The interest in dairy farms producing a portion of their own grains has varied over time. In my work, I have observed an upswing in interest in recent years.

Homegrown grains can be viewed as a strategy to control feed cost and inventory, buffer growing season variability by providing flex acres to harvest as forage or grain, or benefit from economies of scale. These can all be valid justifications; however, there is also reason for caution and the need for detailed evaluation to understand their fit on an individual farm.

First and foremost, as a dairy farm, the goal is milk production, and we have to ask if adding grains truly advances our dairy's ability to make milk. The debate on homegrown grains largely takes place in areas of the country where homegrown forages are the basis of profitable milk production. If growing grain is going to be a net benefit, it cannot come at the expense of the forage system or any other process on the farm.

The farm needs to ensure the resources are available to plant these extra acres of row crops without compromising in other areas. Adequate forage inventories need to be secured before diverting acres to grain production. Timely planting of forage crops and spring harvest of hay crops cannot be compromised when there are extra grain acres to plant. Any potential gains from producing grain can be quickly lost if you are pairing them with a low-quality hay crop or immature corn silage in your feeding program next winter.

The next discussion point is around understanding the true cost of on-farm production compared to purchasing these ingredients. The calculation needs to extend far beyond the annual input cost to grow the crop to include land, equipment, storage, and opportunity cost.

Cost of production for grain can vary widely across farms with several factors from soil productivity and land values, to size of operation. However, a commonality I continue to observe when being involved in these discussions is thin margins and the need for commodity grain prices to reach relatively high levels before many farms can truly produce these grains more economically than buying them.

If money is available for investment, what has the potential to have a greater impact on milk production efficiency? Investing in grain infrastructure or cow-centric upgrades to improve area such as cow comfort, milking process, and feeding practices.

The next discussion point focuses on processing, storage, and risk of loss. As with our forages, success is not defined by a high yield at harvest; success is defined by a high-quality feed ingredient reaching the cow. Any reductions in nutritional value or shrink losses in our feeding programs are problematic, and the higher the value an ingredient has, the more costly a percentage point of shrink becomes. This is especially concerning when farms try to repurpose existing structures for storage. So many times, the excessive shrink and higher labor demands of a repurposed storage result in cost higher than the potential savings from repurposing the structure.

Finally, milk production levels and diet consistency need to factor in. Commodity grains can be blended in large volumes to dilute out potential anti-quality factors such as low test weight or the prevalence of mycotoxins. Purchased grains come with a level of certainty related to the nutrient content and hygiene of the product. If a challenging growing season results in compromised nutritional value or toxins in our homegrown grains, we are stuck with them.

When this nutritional variability is layered onto existing variabilities inherent in forages and feeding practices it can lead to more disruptions, especially for high-producing dairy cows. A dairy producer recently commented to me that “feeding high-moisture corn was fine when our cows were making 75 pounds of milk, but now they are at 105 pounds and these cows notice any little hiccup in diet energy, high-moisture corn has become a real headache.”

The experience to date with high oleic soybeans suggests the economics for on-farm production are much more favorable than traditional on-farm grain production. The nutritional fit of high oleic soybeans is a good discussion with your nutritionist; however, one common talking point has been inconsistencies in on-farm roasting, resulting in cow-level diet challenges. This is not an insurmountable challenge if this feed is determined to be a good fit for your farm, but it does highlight the attention to detail and resources needed to successfully integrate them into a feeding program.

Farms have utilized homegrown grains for generations; it has worked well for some and frankly has been a disaster for others. Whether evaluating on-farm grain production for the first time or revisiting if it is still a good use of resources on your farm, farm-specific factors will dictate the potential role it can play on your farm. This was not meant to be a dismissal of the practice but rather a discussion on the critical factors that should be weighed when evaluating the fit for your farm.