I think the cows need the grain because they are kept inside and stall fed, of course not all are but because of the extremes in temp in some states they don't bother with grass. Also letting cows graze in a field and then bringing them in to milk them in is ok if you are small, one man might be able to handle 200 cows like this, in Newzealand they would handle more but in the US some have thousands of cows per farm and it is much easier to keep them in and milk them. Large dairy companies handle this, not individual farmers, the work in such a place requires little skill which is the way they seem to do things.
I only know this because it has been on the Irish farming news on the radio 2 weeks ago, they were explaining the grain price and trying to forcast the results of this.
Going to Proven in Scotland on monday yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mike