ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE July 2025 97 About William Woodley After 37 years of service at a major North American feed and nutrition company, William Woodley has retired, forming a dairy consulting company, Woodley Dairy Direction, focusing on dairy management and nutrition strategies to improve productivity. Woodley had a variety of roles over the last thirty-seven years but always with a major emphasis on Dairy Nutrition and Management. Woodley’s role as Ruminant Technical Manager provided a critical liaison between research and the practicalities of the dairy farm. Woodley has written several articles for magazines such as the Ontario Dairy Farmer and Progressive Dairyman. William Woodley’s main emphasis through Woodley Dairy Direction is working with dairy operations and dairy specialists to “unlock the potential” on dairy herds. He focuses on what he calls “The Legacy Effect” – understanding management and nutrition decisions made on dairy farms today that will affect future production. The other key area of focus is on understanding forage quality and particle size. Both quality and particle size interact to have a significant impact on herd productivity. maturity and dry matter differences of the crop being harvested. Figure 2 helps to illustrate some of the thought process when determining TLC at harvest. You want to know more about the recommendation on the forage particle size? What are the consequences about and consequences on production? What’s the adequate particle size? For more information, you can read my special article on Lallemand Animal Nutrition’s special blog. Our concept of adequate particle size has changed dramatically over the last few years. Reducing particle size to an appropriate level for optimum rumen function, cud chewing and cow performance is critical. Perhaps “long is wrong” but too short can also lead to health concerns. Applying the Goldilocks principle to particle size is a sound approach – not too long, not too short, but just right. Ideal Range Mature Haylage <10 12 14 16 18 20 >22 Immature Haylage High Quality Haylage Low Quality Haylage Wet Alfalfa Dry Alfalfa (fragile) Wet Grass Wet Corn Silage Dry Corn Silage Dry Grass (not fragile) Determining Length of Cut at Harvest Figure 2 References 1. Current perspectives on eating and rumination activity in dairy cows; K.A. Beauchemin, J Dairy Sci. 2018 Jun;101(6):4762-4784. doi: 0.3168/jds.2017-13706 2. Effect of dietary roughage level on chewing activity, ruminal pH, and saliva secretion in lactating Holstein cows J. Dairy Sci., 100 (2017), pp. 2660-2671; F.G. Jiang, X.Y. Lin, Z.G. Yan, Z.Y. Hu, G.M. Liu, Y.D. Sun, X.W. Liu, Z.H. Wang 3. How do dairy cows chew? Particle size analysis of selected feeds with different particle length distributions and of respective ingested bolus particles J. Dairy Sci., 95 (2012), pp. 4707-4720 22818484; I. Schadt, J.D. Ferguson, G. Azzaro, R. Petriglieri, M. Caccamo, P. Van Soest, G. Licitra 4. Engels, F.M. 1989. Some properties of cell wall layers determining ruminant digestion. p. 80-87, In A. Chesson and E.R. Orskov (eds.). Physico-Chemical Characterization of Plant Residues for Industrial and Feed Use. Elsevier Applied Science, London 5. Grant, R.J. 2007. Cows under pressure: What have we learned about stocking density and natural cow behavior? Section 4 in Proc. 47th Annual New England Dairy Feed Conference and Ruminant Nutrition and Health Conference. West Lebanon, NH and Syracuse, NY 6. Relationships Between Fibre Digestibility and Particle Size for Lactating Dairy Cows, Rick Grant, Wyatt Smith, and Michael Miller, William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY
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