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Quality forage helping offset high input costs

A central Wisconsin dairy farmer says producing high quality forage is helping offset escalating input costs.

Brad Kramer has a 200 cow operation near Pittsville where he also raises corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

He tells Brownfield margins are getting tighter as milk prices go down and soybean meal prices go up.

“The price of milk (has been) crashing, now down in the $12 range.  And soybean meal, which as a grower of soybeans it’s great that the soybean rally is coming, but as a buyer of soybean meal it’s definitely putting a strain on the dairy farm.”

Kramer recently finished his first cutting of alfalfa and says the excellent crop is helping the bottom line.

“My nutritionist said that all the samples are looking like 190-200 Relative Feed Value, which is exactly what we were looking for on our dairy.  We were not going for tonnage, we were going for quality, and we attained that goal.”

Kramer says farmers in his area are also benefiting from a huge supply of alfalfa seed from last year’s bumper crop.