Withrow Dairy

Feed

Nutrition

Dairy Nutrition Services

The feed that goes into dairy cows is an essential key to the success of milk production. The procurement of the feed necessary to sustain a dairy of this size takes months of planning and getting to know the suppliers and growers in our area. Additionally, the dairy needs a lot of storage space for commodities that can only be obtained at peak seasons throughout the year. This photo show only a portion of the hay that is stored and used all year long.

Veterinary Services

Dairy Veterinary Services

Dairy Veterinary Services is a group of large heard veterinarians out of the Chandler area that provide vital assistance

and information regarding the herd health at the dairy. Bruce Ericsson is our leave veterinarian and he visits the dairy

regularly and assist managers and herdsmen with training, assessments and protocol to help maintain healthy cows.

Dairy Veterinary Services has a pharmaceutical service called Dairy Pharm, log onto their website at www.dairypharm.com

for more information.

Feed is tested and TMR's (Total Mixed Rations) are formulated with the specific needs of the cows in mind. Those rations are mixed and fed each and every day, three times a day. Milk cows must get as much feed as they need in order to maintain proper health and production levels and may consume as much as 60 lbs. of feed each day. The photo to the left shows alfalfa hay being added and weighed into a feed mixer.

Local area Farmers and Suppliers

The photo to the left is a field of alfalfa that will be cut and bailed for hay.

We have several farmers in the area supplying the harvesting crops specifically for the dairy such as hay and silage. Other commodities like corn, soybean meal, cottonseed and vitamin/mineral supplements are coming from other suppliers in the area.

Oats are grown and harvested in the same manner as the alfalfa and used at the dairy for heifers and dry cows as a less "potent" form of forage.

The picture below is one of the corn fields that will get harvested into corn silage. The photo to the right is the piece of equipment that takes the chopped corn from the trucks and puts it into the long bags for storage.

Arizona Grain

Arizona Grain supplies the dairy with flaked corn as well as other commodities. The dairy receives over a semi load of corn almost every day, that equates to the dairy using nearly 50,000 lbs. of corn every day. The photo to the right shows a corn truck unloading the load of corn for the day.

Arizona Ag Marketing

Arizona Ag supplies us with soybean meal and other commodities. A dairy of our size, feeding the type of TMR's we feed, can anticipate using over 12 tons of soybean meal each month.

Fernando Vazquez of Dairy Nutrition Services visits the dairy regularly and takes samples of our stored commodities as well as monitoring the nutritional needs and behaviors of the cows. Fernando takes that information and provides us with feeding rations and mineral (vitamin) supplements that provide a well-balanced meal for the cows.

Medicine & Vaccination Supplies

Walco International

Dave Burnham of Walco International is our main supplier of all medicines and vaccines. They supply medical supplies as well as other supplies needed on the dairy. Dave makes regular trips to the dairy each week to re-stock supplies and fill special orders.