Wade Kessenich, Kessenich Farms, LLC, DeForest, Wis.
In 2018, Kessenich Farms, LLC, a 600-cow Jersey and Holstein herd in DeForest, Wis. was faced with reproduction issues. Wade Kessenich recalls, “we had a lot of abortions in the third trimester, and we knew it had to be something in the feed. We talked to Steve (Otteson, CentralStar A.I. Specialist) and our nutritionist and began feeding DTX.
As soon as we started feeding DTX, it righted the ship, significantly reducing the number of abortions. Along with that, it helped reproduction for the entire herd. At the time, our herd had a pregnancy-rate percent in the low 20s; we were fine with that because from a profitability standpoint, we were not sure being higher made sense. Today, we have a 42% pregnancy rate. DTX brought us to this level in a profitable way.
It’s difficult to balance a ration with two breeds in the same pen and sorting is inevitable. DTX works differently than a binder and eliminates the problems sorting causes. We feed DTX even when there are no toxins in the feed because it improves gut health, and the cows are healthier.
Our biggest driver is selling solids. With DTX in the ration, we are able to sell the same amount of solids with a cheaper ration, because the cows are healthier and produce a higher-quality product. There are a lot of things you can feed to buy your milk. Most of them are money in and money out. That’s not the case with DTX. With DTX, we’ve reduced the amount of starch and protein in the ration, and still achieve production levels without extra cost.
We’ve tried other products; they are too costly when you look at the dollars you put in compared to the dollars you get out. DTX isn’t that way. With DTX, we’re able to eliminate adding a binder and other supportive therapy. On a modern dairy, the products you choose have to work like a Swiss Army Knife. They must help in a lot of different areas. DTX is one of those products that remedies many areas, including reproduction, SCC, and animal health. There isn’t any other product on the market like it. We continue to feed it, because we can’t stop using a product that gets these types of results.”