Finding feed efficiencies despite challenging crop year

Two large bins outside of the Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms holds 115,000 bushel each along with a wet ingredients bin that has a capacity of 25,000 bushel.

A monitor is part of the feed kitchen at Vir-Clar Farms controls bin ingredients and mixing commands.

A programmable Logic Controller in the feed kitchen at Vir-Clar Farms controls bin ingredients and mixing commands.

Participants on a PDPW tour to VIr-Clar Farms on Oct. 24 tour the Feed Center.

Another batch of feed is ready to be sent out to a pen of cattle on Vir-Clar Farms.

Feed ingredients and forage is kept in the commodity bays outside of the Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms.

A computer monitor inside the Feed Center allows employees at Vir-Clar Farms to track feed usage and feed waste.

Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms.

Feed ingredients are dispersed into the Trioliet stationary mixer inside the Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms.

A payloader enters one of the commodity bays just outside the Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms.

Grant Grinstead compares the overages and underages of a recent batch of feed mixed at Vir-Clar Farms.

A payloader brings a load of forage into the Feed Center at Vir-Clar Farms.

A batch of feed is loaded into a self-unloading feed truck at Vir-Clar Farms.

A batch of feed is in the process of being created inside the Trioliet stationary mixer at Vir-Clar Farms.

Covered piles of corn silage are one of many ingredients used feed cattle at Vir-Clar Farms.

Laurie Winkelman, a dairy nutritionist from VitaPlus, is responsible for overseeing feed rations at Vir-Clar Farms.

An employee adds a load of forage to the mixer at Vir-Clar Farms.

Second Look Holsteins was one of the host farms on the Oct 24 PDPW tour.

An employee dumps a load of corn silage into the portable mixer at Second Look Holsteins.

Leachate from a silage pile is captured in a storage facility at Second Look Holsteins.

An employee scoops up a load of corn silage on the feed pad at Second Look Holsteins.

Corey, right, and Clint Hodorff talk about new the feeding set up at their Eden farm.

Face of silage pile at Second Look Holsteins.

A channel diverts run off from the feed pad to a 600,000 lagoon.

Second Look Holsteins recently added on to the feed pad that collects 100% of runoff.

A 600,000 gallon concrete lagoon captures all the runoff from the feed pads at Second Look Holsteins.

Covered corn silage piles at Second Look Holsteins.

Checking out the corn silage at Second Look Holsteins.

Covered pile of silage at Second Look Holsteins.