Belinda, CLA and grain, was Re: pastured vs. range-fed

September 18, 2002

> Wanita-

>

> >Are they a commercial producer, ?

>

> Yup. Licensed and everything. Raw and strictly grass-fed. It's

great

> stuff, and they don't feed a single kernel of grain to any of their

cows.

>

> <><><><><><><><><><><><><<<>Do they feed alfalfa and call it hay?

Dairies would have to feed extra protein other than just dry hay to

get any milk. Alfalfa has a lot more protein than hay (called prairie

hay out here). Even range cattle out here get alfalfa and prairie

hay feed in the winter.>><><><><><><<><><<>Dennis

-

September 19, 2002

At 11:17 PM 9/16/02 -0400, you wrote:

>Why do farmers bother to make silage then?

>

>Kris

Here in New England at least I think that corn growing has become such a

custom

(like the Inuit comparing Steffanson's salt craving to their bringing up their

children with tobacco) that its a hard one to break. It was corn that fed the

Pilgrims so they made it through their first winter. 30+ canoe loads of corn

from this valley kept the first settlers of Hartford CT from starving another

winter later. Silage was likely a natural offshoot of excess corn production

and what to do with the entire plant rather than the corn crib corn for the

chickens. Its less machinery to chop corn than to bale hay too.Idon't know

nutritionally how fermented silage compares to hay. I'd think the glycemic

index is at the top with the combination of corn and near alcohol from

fermentation. With so much farmland being lost to development in the east

silage could produce more feed per acre than hay too.

Wanita

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