Success with Silage

Even though their milk checks are bigger these days, members of the Herrington family still need to wring every possible ounce of milk from their dairy herd to counter escalating input costs. To do that, the Troy, New York, farmers grow and harvest quality forages, rely on solid advice from industry experts, diversify what they sell and buy reliable machinery from a responsive dealer.

“We’re milking over 700 cows, and they’re each averaging more than 102 lbs. of milk per day with great components – around 4% butterfat and 3.5% protein,” says Jason Herrington, a fourth-generation dairy producer. “The higher the quality of our forages, the more the cows make and the less we have to spend on grain or other additives, such as canola or wheat middlings.” 

The Herrington family farms 2,000 acres on a combination of owned and rented land. Half of the acreage is planted for corn with about 400 acres each of BMR (brown midrib) and another silage hybrid. The remaining 200 acres are harvested for grain. The balance of the land is used to grow 400 acres each of alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures and 200 acres of grass. All alfalfa and grasses are made into haylage.

The family favors BMR corn silage because of its high digestibility and the amount of milk it produces. With less lignin content in the stalks, BMR hybrids are easier for cows to digest and achieve higher milk production.

“Our BMR yields 21 tons per acre, while the other yields 26 tons per acre, so we plant both to strike a balance between milk production and yield,” Jason says. “We would love to plant more BMR, but cropland is just too difficult to come by in this area.”

World Forage Analysis Superbowl winner
The family received affirmation that it’s on the right track when it took home the top prize from the 2021 World Forage Analysis Superbowl with a sample of their BMR corn silage.

Samples submitted to the contest are analyzed by near infrared technology (NIR) and sorted by quality based on milk per ton for the two corn silage categories in the competition and relative forage quality (RFQ) for the other six categories. Finalists for each category are judged by University of Wisconsin personnel based on visual judging criteria.

Herrington Farms’ BMR sample had a neutral detergent fiber of 34.5% and a milk/ton score of 4,202. They were named the grand prize winner among the 343 entries in the 2021 competition, which is held each fall at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jason represented Herrington Farms at the World Dairy Expo to accept the honor and the $2,500 prize, which his sister Jessica used to pay farm bills. “Just about everything goes right back into the operation,” Jason states. The family had never entered the contest before 2021 but were encouraged by their nutritionist to give it a shot.

“My first reaction was, ‘No way,’” Jason says. “But he persisted, sharing he sees a lot of corn silage samples and that ours looked like a strong contender.” 

BMR hybrids require careful harvest management of moisture, chop length and kernel processing to ensure the greatest nutritional impact. A long-time New Holland customer, Herrington Farms’ winning sample was harvested with the farm’s FR Forage Cruiser self-propelled forage harvester.

“Looking back, we had a phenomenal growing year in 2020 to produce that sample,” Jason says. “Our crew did a great job. Harvest went smoothly, and the silage was put up at the perfect time.”

Working together for quality
The Herrington Farms corporation consists of Jason, along with his sister Jessica, their 81-year-old father Kenny and 71-year-old Uncle Phil. Each member oversees one or more aspects of the operation. Jason takes care of the crops and equipment; Jessica manages the accounting, human resources and milking parlor and squeezes in time for field work; Kenny does all the mowing; and Phil’s the herdsman. Fourteen employees round out the work force.

“We’ve got a great team here. Everyone puts in extra hours getting the crops planted and harvested on time and that consistency pays off,” Jason states.

Dollars from diversification
The Herringtons rely on the specialists in the crop chemical, dairy nutrition, feed, equipment and seed industries to keep their farm running smoothly and profitably. 

“They’ve put our operation under their wings,” Jason says. “We’re progressive, but we’re also trying to be cost conscious, and they understand that.”

To save money, Herrington Farms hauls their purchased commodities — including canola, wheat middlings and a protein mix made with waste byproducts — to a local feed mill. They also haul one tractor-trailer load of milk per day to the milk processing plant.

Cow manure is stored on the farm in a lagoon with a 3-million-ton capacity. Some fluids from the lagoon are injected or top-dressed on alfalfa, but more is injected in the corn fields after harvest. Jason notes, “We prefer to inject in the fall versus spring, but there’s not always enough time to get it all done.”

The farm lies in the Tomhannock Reservoir watershed, which supplies water to nearby Albany, Saratoga Springs and Schenectady. “Because of our close proximity to those cities, we have to do limited spreading, which leaves us with a lot of manure to handle,” Jason says.

To solve that dilemma, the family put a manure separator in about 10 years ago that divides the liquids from the solids. Half of the solids are composted and marketed as-is or mixed with soils and sold as topsoil. “It helps our Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) program and brings in some revenue at the same time,” Jason says.

Their proximity to a number of urban areas opened another source of farm income. The Herringtons grind and compost the sawdust in their bedding packs and sell it as mulch. “It looks nice around shrubs and trees and adds fertility value to the soil after it rains,” Jason says.

Other products they market include stones for walkways and gardens and colored mulches. Their customers are a mix of homeowners, home and garden centers and landscaping companies. Two employees work full-time from early spring through summer on this part of the operation.

“They make deliveries nearly every day even though some customers choose to visit the farm, get their materials and then see the cows. City people like that,” Jason says.

A winning relationship
The Herrington family has been doing business with the same New Holland dealer since the early 1960s. “They say service sells and that’s certainly the case for this farming operation,” Jason states. “Every tractor we own is blue.” 

With the first alfalfa haylage harvest of 2022, the family welcomed a new New Holland FR Forage Cruiser FR780. The harvester, which was displayed at the 2022 New York Farm Show, sports a wraparound that acclaims the farm’s name, logo and the Forage Superbowl victory. The new machine, which replaced the family’s New Holland FR700 self-propelled forage harvester, offers best-in-class chop quality, crop processing efficiency and an ergonomically designed cab that’s comfortable and roomy.

Any time the Herringtons have questions about their equipment, a dealership service technician is on the farm within 20 minutes or talks the crew through what needs to be done via phone.

“They’re spot on and keep everything finely tuned,” Jason states. “When your dealership treats you the way we’re treated, it just makes us want to buy more New Holland equipment.”