New and Timely Penn State Publications
Vinton E. Smith
Dairy Management, Capital Region
November 8, 2002
The College of Agricultural Sciences and Cooperative Extension at Penn State have
taken pride in providing access to many publications both online and through their local
extension offices. Here is a summary of new and timely information that is available,
including milk marketing and feeding management information.
New Milk Marketing Information:
Dr. Ken Bailey has recently added two new features to the Penn State Dairy Outlook
web site (http://dairyoutlook.aers.psu.edu). This is a great addition to his continued effort
to provide the dairymen of Pennsylvania with the latest information on the dairy markets.
Are you tired of reading his weekly report? The first new feature that he recently added
won't add anything to your list of things to read. You can play a weekly radio report directly
from his web site. Just go to the Dairy Outlook Web site and look for “Ken Bailey’s Weekly
Commentary” and go down to Audio Recording. You will have two options for the
download, depending on your Internet connection speed. Click on either one and Window’s
Media Player should kick in.
Secondly, he will be posting a brand new quarterly dairy outlook report. This report will
be available from his web site in PDF format. The first report will provide a detailed forecast
of milk, cheese, butter and nonfat supply, demand and prices for 2003. Dr. Bailey
commented, "Even if you don't agree with my weekly report, you may find this newsletter
useful!"
Timely Feeding Management Information:
Many dairymen across Pennsylvania are likely dealing with shortages of homegrown
forages because of dry weather conditions throughout this years growing season. Questions
that they often ask include: “What should be done now?” “Should forage intakes be kept at a
minimum?”, “Should hay or other forage be purchased?”, and “Should roughages or highfiber
feedstuffs be used?”
An excellent publication called "Feeding during shortages of home-grown feeds” from
Penn State can help you and your nutritionist answer these questions. It reviews a list of 10
approaches to dealing with the economic and nutritional challenges of feeding during years
of short feed supply.
This publication also has several tables of information that will help you consider the
economic implications of feeding different feed ingredients. It includes simple formulas for
determining whether a particular ingredient makes economic sense to feed based on the
current price of shelled corn and soybean meal. These tables and formulas are also available
in an Excel© spreadsheet format. It can very quickly evaluate the feeding value of many
different feed ingredients.
Additional tables that list the nutritive value of alternative feed stuffs are also provided.
They include DM, CP, NDF, NSC, & NEL. These tables include practical implications and
recommendations that should be considered before adding these ingredients in your rations.
These publications are available through your local extension office or they can be
downloaded from the Penn State Dairy Nutrition web site at http://www.das.psu/dcn.
This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is
committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its
workforce.
