Do Farmers Know About Feed Management?

The answer unfortunately in many cases is "no". Pennsylvania has done a great job of getting buy-in from nutritionists and getting those nutritionists to become trained to write plans. However, few plans have been written. The main reason for this is that many farmers don't know the program exists and therefore aren't asking for it. In Pennsylvania farmers can get paid $1,900 per group for the first year, $1,400 per group the second year, and $1,000 per group the third group and there can be up to four groups per farm. This equates to $7,600 for the first year just for doing a better job of feeding cows with little initial investment required! I don't think too many farmers would scoff at that kind of money, especially in these economic times.

Extension is working on getting the word out, but we call on anyone who works with or know a farmer to tell them about this program. We are also open to any suggestions on how to get the word out.