Dr. Bill Mahanna, nutritional sciences manager for Pioneer, discusses ideal moisture percentages for high moisture corn. Mahanna says high moisture corn and snaplage benefit digestion. He also comments on corn particle sizes and inoculants for high moisture corn. This edition of Forage Forum was recorded at the Pioneer Forage Media day held in September at the Livestock Nutrition Center in … Read More
Dairyland Seed's Second Generation Hybrid Alfalfa
Back in 2001, Dairyland Seed released the world’s first hybrid alfalfa, HybriForce-400. This year, they took that up a notch and introduced the next generation – HybriForce-2400 Gen-2. “It’s giving us a five percent yield advantage over generation one,” said Dairyland Seed Forage Product Manager Chad Staudinger during an interview at World Dairy Expo. “Through the hybrid breeding system we … Read More
Harvest Timing Factors
This year, many producers are seeing a delay in corn silage harvest. Bill Curran, Pioneer research scientist, discusses harvest timing factors and how the growing season impacts the nutritional value of the silage. Curran spoke to agricultural media recently at the Pioneer Forage Media day held at the Livestock Nutrition Center in Johnston, IA. Listen to this edition of Forage … Read More
Silage Important Part of Feed Program
Dinner time last night at the Global Dairy 500 Conference featured multiple subject discussions. You picked your topic and then participated in a discussion after eating. I attended the Silage Discussion Dinner led by Matthew Smith, Alltech. You can see Matthew getting his slides ready for the start of the discussion. He works for the company in New Zealand and … Read More
Pioneer Fiber Technology Platform Explained
Pioneer’s introduction last week of the Pioneer® brand 11GFT inoculant was the second in a series of products in the DuPont company’s fiber technology platform. “The fiber technology platform is a new technology that we have been working on in the forage additive area for about the last six years,” says Pioneer Senior Research Manager Bill Rutherford. “Essentially what we’re … Read More
Fall Alfalfa Management and Corn Hybrid Selection
Leo Brown, Pioneer Livestock Information manager, discusses fall alfalfa management and corn hybrid selection for silage at the 2009 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Brown says producers should evaluate alfalfa stands in the fall. Depending on stand quality, a producer can look to fertilize for optimum spring growth or apply a herbicide treatment to kill the crop for easier … Read More
Pioneer Lab Tests More Reliably Than Others
After all the classroom presentations today we got to tour the Pioneer Livestock Nutrition Center. We couldn’t take photos inside but afterward I interviewed our tour guide, Scott Dennis, Pioneer Technical Services Manager, Forage Additives. Cindy took the photo of me interviewing Scott who is pictured on the left. Scott says the facility was originally built in 1993 to measure … Read More
Pioneer Keeps Animal Welfare Top of Mind
The man who got us started here at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Media Day is Robin Newell. Cindy spoke to him about the “long look.” He says the Pioneer long look has four components that include: “We strive to create the best products;” “We deal honestly and fairly with our constituents;” “We represent our products vigorously;” “We help our customers … Read More
Pioneer Introduces 11GFT Inoculant For Better Forage Digestibility
Pioneer Hi-Bred announced a new inoculant platform this morning. The 11GFT inoculant is the second in a series of products in the Pioneer fiber technology platform. This one will offer dairy producers another avenue to enhance forage digestibility which will reduce feed costs. The product was developed exclusively for grass and cereal silage and is the first of its kind. … Read More
Pioneer Forage Media Day Class In Session
The Pioneer Forage Media Day has started with class in session at their Livestock Nutrition Center near Des Moines, IA. We have a very good attendance from the ag media. Right now we’re listening to the first presentation by Bill Curran on corn silage reearch. He’s giving us a complete overview of their process for testing and evaluating genetics of … Read More