Here’s a look at the feed requirements for Leprino’s new cheese plant, from Bill Jackson writing for The Greeley Tribune. From the article:
A dairy cow will eat about 45 pounds of corn silage per day, or two to three times that of a steer in a beef cattle feedlot, [Bill Wailes, head of the animal sciences department at Colorado State University] said. That amount varies from dairy to dairy, depending on specific feed rations, but, regardless, that’s a lot of corn. Silage is a crop that has to be grown close to its point of consumption, whether it be a dairy or a feedlot. The limit on the distance it can be transported is about 25 miles because of its moisture content. Hay is another source of roughage in the diet of a dairy cow or feeder animal. It can come from farther distances, although the price of fuel will have a significant impact. Shell corn, another major component of the diet of a ruminant, can, and does, come from greater distances. And, in recent years, the byproduct from ethanol plants in the region has become a staple in the diet of dairy animals. So, using 50,000 as the number of new cows coming to Weld County, Wailes estimated an additional 410,000 tons of silage per year would be required. Based on a 30-ton-per-acre average, which admittedly is a little high, a minimum of 14,000 acres of new silage will be needed in the area to meet the needs of those cows…
Corn silage, according to research conducted by Joel Schneekloth and Allen Andales of CSU, requires about 8 inches less a year in water than does sugar beets in the Greeley area — 30 inches for beets versus 22 inches for corn. Under ideal conditions — whatever those may be — the net requirement is reduced by rain, which in the Greeley area is about 7 inches per growing season. Depending on the efficiency of irrigation systems, the two researchers said the gross water requirements of sugar beets versus corn could be as much as 52 percent.
More South Platte River basin coverage here.