What do dairy cows eat?

Most dairy farmers work with nutritionists that help create a feed ration (recipe) that is best suited for their cows. It’s very important that our farmers give the best feed for their cattle as that’s what helps them stay healthy and produce high quality milk!

Diet
Dairy farmers and herd nutritionists aim for 50-60% of the diet as forage. Forage is simply plants that are consumed mainly by grazing livestock, like grass or hay.

There are two groups of forages: wet and dry. Wet forages would be silage (fermented forage) and common types of silage you might find on a dairy farm are barley, corn or alfalfa. Dry forages would be pasture (fresh forage) or high quality alfalfa hay, alfalfa-grass mix hay, grass hay or straw. Some dairy farmers will feed a mix of both silage and hay, while others might only feed silage or only feed hay, depending on the farm.

The other half of the diet is called the concentrate. The concentrate is comprised of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and minerals and vitamins.

Carbohydrates 
Primary sources: barley, corn, oats, wheat, molasses, beet pulp, and soyhulls. Most dairy farmers grow their own barley, corn, oats, and wheat and will often process these grains to be fed to the cows. Molasses, beet pulp and soyhulls are purchased from a feed mill. Not all of these carbohydrate sources are used as other sources are needed to complement the forage to meet the nutritional requirements of the cows.

Protein 
Primary sources: canola meal, distillers grains, soybean meal, and corn gluten meal. The protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and feed additives are mixed together at a feed mill and brought to the dairy farm to be fed to the dairy cows.

Fat 
Primary sources: vegetable oil, tallow, and protected fatty acids.

Minerals and Vitamins
Primary sources: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Sulfur, Iron, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Cobalt, Iodine, Selenium, Vitamin A, D, E and some B-vitamins too. They are essential for the health and productivity of the cows and farmers and nutritionists will make sure all of these nutrients are balanced. Prebiotics and probiotics are also often used to help with digestion and as another way to ensure cows are healthy.

Although many of the concentrate ingredients listed are fairly standard, but some dairy farmers that are closer to large city centers can also take advantage of by-products from commercial food processors, such as potato waste, fruit and vegetable waste, etc. What processors call waste is actually a by-product for the dairy feed industry. Dairy cows are excellent recyclers and can take these unwanted by-products that have great nutritional value and use them in their diets while reducing the amount of grain cows eat. Great care taken on selecting ingredients that are healthy for dairy cows to remain productive and sustainable.

How to Grow Sunflowers

An annual plant, sunflowers have big, daisy like flower faces of bright yellow petals (and occasionally red) and brown centers that ripen into heavy heads filled with seeds.

Tall and course, the plants have creeping or tuberous roots and large, bristly leaves. Some sunflowers grow to over 16 feet in height though there are also varieties today that have been developed for small spaces and containers.

Most sunflowers are remarkably tough and easy to grow as long as the soil is not waterlogged. Most are heat- and drought-tolerant. They make excellent cut flowers and many are attractive to bees and birds.

Planting

Sunflowers grow best in locations with direct sun (6 to 8 hours per day); they prefer long, hot summers to flower well.

Sunflowers have long tap roots which need to stretch out so the plants prefer well-dug, loose, well-draining soil; in preparing a bed, dig down 2 feet in depth and about 3 feet across to ensure the soil isn't too compact.

Find a well-drained location, and prepare your soil by digging an area of about 2-3 feet in circumference to a depth of about 2 feet.

Though they're not too fussy, sunflowers thrive in slightly acidic to somewhat alkaline (pH 6.0 to 7.5).

Sunflowers are heavy feeders so the soil needs to be nutrient-rich with organic matter or composted (aged) manure. Or, work in a slow release granular fertilizer 8 inches deep into your soil.

If possible, put seeds in a spot that is sheltered from strong winds, perhaps along a fence or near a building.

Planting Sunflower Seeds

It's best to sow sunflower seeds directly into the soil after the danger of spring frost is past. Ideally, the soil temperature has reached 55 to 60 degrees F.

Give plants plenty of room, especially for low-growing varieties that will branch out. Make rows about 30 inches apart. (For very small varieties, plant closer together.)

Plant the large seeds no more than 1 inch deep about 6 inches apart after it has thoroughly warmed, from mid-April to late May. You can plant multiple seeds and thin them to the strongest contenders when the plants are six inches tall.

A light application of fertilizer mixed in at planting time will encourage strong root growth to protect them from blowing over in the wind.

Experiment with plantings staggered over 5 to 6 weeks to keep enjoying continuous blooms.

If you see birds scratching around for the seeds, spread netting over the planted area until seeds germinate.

Care

While the plant is small, water around the root zone, about 3 to 4 in. from the plant. To protect the plant, it may help to put snail or slug bait around the ste

Once the plant is established, water deeply though infrequently to encourage deep rooting. Unless the weather is exceptionally wet or dry, water once a week with several gallons of water.

Feed plants only sparingly; overfertilization can cause stems to break in the fall. You can add diluted fertilizer into the water, though avoid getting the fertilizer near the plant's base; it may help to build a moat in a circle around the plant about 18 inches out.

Tall species and cultivars require support. Bamboo stakes are a good choice for any plant that has a strong, single stem and needs support for a short period of time.

Pests

Birds and squirrels will show interest in the seeds. if you plan to use the seeds, deter critters with barrier devices. As seed heads mature and flowers droop, you can cover each one with white polyspun garden fleece.

If you have deer, keep them at bay with a tall wire barrier.

Sunflowers are relatively insect-free. A small gray moth sometimes lays its eggs in the blossoms. Pick the worms from the plants.

Downy mildew, rust, and powdery mildew can also affect the plants. If fungal diseases are spotted early, spray with a general garden fungicide. 

Harvest/Storage

For indoor bouquets, cut the main stem just before its flower bud has a chance to open to encourage side blooms.

Cut stems early in the morning. Harvesting flowers during middle of the day may lead to flower wilting. 

Handle sunflowers gently. The flowers should last at least a week in water at room temperature.

Arrange sunflowers in tall containers that provide good support for their heavy heads, and change the water every day to keep them fresh.

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

To harvest seeds, keep an eye out for ripeness. The back of the flower head will turn from green to yellow and the bracts will begin to dry and turn brown; this happens about 30 to 45 days after bloom and seed moisture is about 35%. Generally, when the head turns brown on the back, seeds are usually ready for harvest.

Cut the head off the plant (about 4 inches below the flower head) and remove the seeds with your fingers or a fork.

To protect the seeds from birds, you can cover the flowers with a light fabric such as cheesecloth and a rubber band. Or, you can cut the flower head early and hang the heads upside down until they seeds are dry; hang indoors or in a place that's safe from birds and mice.

Recommended Varieties

Everyone is familiar with the huge sunflowers that grow on towering eight-foot-tall stalks. But, did you know that some varieties top off at a modest 15 inches?

The towering 'Mammoth' variety is the traditional giant sunflower. It is excellent for snacks and bird feeds, too.

'Autumn Beauty': One of the most spectacular cultivars, has many 6-inch flowers in shades of yellow, bronze, and mahogany on branching stems up to 7 feet tall.

'Sunbeam': A standout bouquet flower, the van Gogh sunflower grows on a 5-foot plant with 5-inch flowers. The big, no-mess, pollenless flowers have rich, golden-yellow rays.

'Teddy Bear': Just 2 to 3 feet tall, this small flower is perfect for small gardens and containers. The fluffy, deep-gold, 5-inch blossoms last for days in a vase.

How to Grow Celery

 Learning how to grow celery is simple. The main features this crop requires are rich soil, plenty of water, and protection from hot sun and high temperatures. Grow celery as a winter crop in the South, a summer crop in the far North, and a fall crop in most other areas.

Planting: You can buy transplanted crops from nurseries, but cultivar choices expand enormously when you grow celery from seed. You can choose standard varieties such as ‘Ventura’, experiment with self-blanching types such as ‘Golden Boy’ and ‘Tango’, or try red-stalked varieties such as ‘Redventure’. For a late-summer crop, sow seeds indoors 10 to 12 weeks before the last average spring frost. Soak the tiny seeds overnight to encourage germination. Fill a container with a mix of ½ compost and ½ sand, and plant in rows 1 inch apart. Cover the seeds with a sand layer ½ inch deep, then cover the flats with damp sphagnum moss or burlap until seeds sprout. 

Place in a bright spot out of direct sun, and keep the temperature at 70° to 75°F during the day and about 60°F at night. Provide plenty of water and good drainage and air circulation. Transplant the seedlings into individual pots when they are about 2 inches tall. At 6 inches, harden off the plants for about 10 days, and then transplant them into the garden in a bed that’s high in organic matter (from a cover crop or added compost).

Space the plants 6 to 8 inches apart in rows 2 to 3 feet apart. Set them no deeper than they grew in pots. Water in each seedling with compost tea. 

For a fall crop, also known as a second harvest, sow seeds indoors in May or June, and follow the same directions, transplanting seedlings in June or July. Provide shade in hot, humid weather.

Growing guidelines: Apply several inches of mulch, and provide at least 1 inch of water a week. Gently remove any weeds that might compete for nutrients with celery’s shallow roots. Feed every 10 to 14 days with compost tea or a balanced organic fertilizer. If night temperatures are consistently below 55°F, protect plants by covering them with cloches; otherwise, the stalks become weak. 

Blanching celery destroys some nutrients but prevents stalks from becoming bitter. It also protects fall crops against heavy frosts. You can grow a self-blanching variety, such as ‘Golden Self-Blanching’, or blanch conventional varieties by one of these methods:

 Gradually pull the soil up around the plants as they grow, keeping the leaves exposed. 

 Two weeks before harvest, tie the tops together, and mound soil up to the base of the leaves. 

 Cover the stalks with large cans (remove both ends first), drain tiles, or sleeves made out of paper or other material. 

 Line up boards, secured with stakes, along each side of a celery row to shut out the sun. 

 Water carefully after setting up your blanching system, avoiding wetting the leaves and stalks, or they may rot.

Problems: Celery’s main enemies are parsleyworms, carrot rust flies, and nematodes. See the carrot page for more information on these pests. Celery leaf tiers are tiny yellow caterpillars marked with one white stripe; control by hand picking. Attacks of tarnished plant bugs show up as black joints or brown, sunken areas.

Common diseases that affect celery crops, as well as other vegetables, include early and late blight, which both begin as small dots on the leaves, and pink rot, which shows up as water-soaked stem spots and white or pink coloration at stalk bases. Crop rotation is the best control. 

Distorted leaves and cracked stems can indicate a boron-deficient soil; correct by spraying plants with liquid seaweed extract every 2 weeks until symptoms disappear.

Harvesting: Cut the plant off just below the soil line, or cut single stalks of unblanched celery as needed. To preserve a fall crop, pull up the plants and place them in deep boxes with moist sand or soil around the roots. Store in a cool place; they will keep for several months. 

How to Pick Sweet Corn

How to Find Ripe Corn

First, make sure you're aware of the number of days until harvest for your particular variety of corn. Check the seed package or with your seed supplier to find out. Another guideline is 20 days from when the first tassels appear at the end of the ear of corn.

When you look at an ear of corn in the garden, you will see tassels on the end of the ear. These tassels are the part of the plant that both bears and receives the pollen.

When corn is ready to harvest, the cornsilk turns from a light blond color to a dark brown. When the cornsilk is dark brown all the way down to the husk, you can assume that the corn is ready to eat.

To double-check the ripeness of the corn, pull back the husk a little bit and take a peek at the kernels. Make sure the kernels are filled all the way from the base of the ear of corn to the very tip of the plant. Rub your thumbnail along the kernels. They should feel tender and squirt a bit of milk out as you push your nail against them.

Hearty corn will have firm, dark green husks. The silk will be dark but held tightly against the ear. You will be able to feel individual kernels through the husk.

How to Pick the Corn

To pick corn properly, grab the ear firmly, placing your thumb toward the top of the ear and your middle finger closer to the base of the ear. Snap the ear against the stalk and pull upward. That's it! Now your corn is ready to cook and eat.

How to Cook Fresh Corn

You'll want to cook freshly picked corn as soon as possible, because as soon as you pick it, the sugar in the kernels begins to turn to starch. Within the first 24 hours, corn loses 25% of its sugar to starch. The most freshly picked, cooked and eaten corn tastes the best!

If you're selling your corn at the farmers market or straight from your farm, soak the picked corn in lukewarm water until you sell it. This will help keep it fresher.

Boiling fresh corn is the most popular way to prepare it. Choose a pot large enough to hold the amount of corn you're cooking, plus enough water to fully cover the ears. Get the water boiling before you pick and husk your corn so that it will be as fresh as possible. Pull off the husk and silk, and drop the corn into the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, remove the corn - it's done!

You can also grill fresh corn. Pull the husk back to the base of the ear, but leave it attached. Remove the silk and rinse the ear. Pat them dry and rub softened butter along the kernels if you wish. Or grill in the husk, soaking in water first to prevent the husk from burning. Another option is to bake them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes in a baking pan or directly on the oven rack.

Frizzle Chickens

The origins of the Frizzle are difficult to track down. Some texts refer to Asia - Japan in particular but other countries seemed to have the Frizzle for a long time and there are texts from the 1800's that mention India, Egypt and South Africa. Whatever their exact origins are, it is clear that they were around for many centuries in various qualities but started to become more standardised and gained popularity, reaching the US and Europe by the time the first poultry shows were held.

The make up of the Frizzle is also somewhat of a mystery although the Silkie would be the most probable ancestor.
The frizzle feathered Poland or Japanese Bantam have similar feathering but are not considered as Frizzles. They are covered by their own respective breed standards and clubs. The Frizzle Society of Great Britain was formed in 1978.

Breeding Hints
Mating Frizzles will give 25% smooth feathered, 25% very frizzled and 50% frizzled (of varying quality). It is best to keep some smooth frizzled pullets as mating a very frizzled pair will cause deterioration in feather quality after a couple of generations. Less feather follicles cause the offspring to have bald patches over their body.

How to Raise Chickens for Meat

If you're interested in raising chickens for meat, not eggs, you'll need to do things a little bit differently. There are some additional steps to consider as well -- for one, slaughtering, processing or butchering the birds when they are fully grown to market size. Chickens raised for meat are commonly called "meat birds" and are usually a different breed from laying hens.

Should You Raise Meat Birds?
This is the critical first step, before you actually get the chicks. Consider whether you really want to raise meat birds. They're very different from laying hens. You'll have a lot (usually 50 or more, although you could just raise a few) of fast-growing birds, which means a lot of poop. And the biggest question to answer: can you handle saying goodbye in six to eight short weeks? Whether you slaughter them on-farm or take them to be processed, if you're a new farmer, you will need to face this reality, or be a vegetarian farmer. It's up to you - but it's cruel to meat birds to let them live longer than a few months as they are heavy-breasted and can die of heart failure if they grow too big.

How to Choose a Meat Bird Breed
Meat birds are truly a breed apart from laying hens. Although a hundred years ago, laying hens were truly dual-purpose, meaning most people kept a flock of hens and roosters and killed older birds as needed for meat, older chickens tend to be tough and stringy, better for stew or soup than a roast chicken like we eat today.

Cornish Rocks, which are a cross between a Cornish and a White Rock, are the typical meat bird breed, used in factory farms all over the US and on many small family farm operations as well (both pastured and conventional). They are extremely efficient converters of feed to muscle. However, other breeds more suited to pasture are also becoming available.

 How to Choose a Coop for Meat Birds
You will need a coop for your chickens, just like for your laying hens. Coops for meat birds are often larger so that you can raise 50, 100, or more birds at a time. Many people raise meat birds just during the summer season, so they can often be more temporary shelters like hoop houses or tarps. You will need to make sure your birds have protection from rain and wind. They don't need roosts because meat birds don't really like to roost. If you're pasturing your chickens, you will want to have something movable or use a day ranging method (see below).

How to Start From Day-Old Chicks
Most likely, you will buy your chickens as day-old chicks from a hatchery or feed store. Baby chicks require a bit of specialized care: they need a brooder area and heat lamp to keep them warm; they need their brooder temperature monitored closely; and they need to be prevented from developing issues like pasting up.

Raising Meat Birds on Pasture
You can keep your chickens in a coop with just a small run attached, but I love raising my meat birds on pasture. The meat is higher in omega-3s, and the birds are just happier in my opinion. I love raising the Freedom Rangers and watching them forage for bugs and chomp on grass every single day. I will even let my birds run out of feed for a little bit so that they have a day when they are highly motivated to forage.

Processing Chickens on the Farm
When your birds have grown to full size, typically 5-7 pounds depending on whether you're raising broilers or roasters, it's time to process them into chickens for the freezer. You can do this on-farm, or you can find a poultry processor and transport the birds to the site to be slaughtered and processed. If you plan to sell your birds at a store or farmers market, you will need to have them slaughtered at a USDA-approved facility. There are even mobile facilities in some states.