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Dairying

Grass

Grass growth has continued above normal in most areas. Cows are milking well and farm covers are rising.

There is huge potential to:

• Produce your remaining quota as cheaply as possible
• Graze grass late into the autumn
• Set up your farm for spring 2000.

With all ground available for grazing, daily demand is between 33kg and 45kg DM per hectare (2 - 2.7 cows per hectare) on most farms. With growth rate staying above this, your farm will continue to build up grass. In most years this continues for at least the next two to three weeks.

The question is how to make the best use of it. It is too late to cut surplus grass for round bale silage. The paddocks cut will grow very little from now on, even with adequate nitrogen. The only exception is in wet areas where access for late grazing is poor. Most farmers have made the decision to graze the grass to lengthen the rotation and extend the grazing season.

Spring calving cows can handle swards up to 2,700kg dry matter per hectare (4,200kg dry matter total cover) if managed right. Fresh autumn calvers should graze no higher than 1800kg - 2000kg dry matter per hectare. (3,200 - 3,500 total cover). Skip stronger paddocks with the option to graze with dry stock or dry cows later in the autumn.

Wet Weather

Rain has decreased utilisation and made grazing out heavy covers difficult in some areas. Strip grazing helps. Back fencing is critical to minimise damage and also avoid grazing regrowth.

If the rain continues, on / off grazing practises will help. With plenty of grass, keep out meals especially if over quota. Cheap meals (2kg - 3kg) might be needed if under quota and milk yields dip dramatically. Otherwise alternate high covers in the morning with low cover in the evening to maintain yields.

In drier weather get dry stock to clean out the swards, but avoid grazing regrowth. Despite the high gross some farms are still below their target cover from mid - late September.

If only slightly below target (100kg - 150kg dry matter per hectare) keep spreading nitrogen up to 40 units to boost grass growth. Urea can be used. Stretch the rotation to over 30 days. If further below target, feed 2kg - 4kg of meal to reduce grass demand and lift cover quicker.

Quota

Milk deliveries have been very strong throughout July and August. There has never seen such a wide variation between co-ops in their quota situation. Before you start to plan and how much milk you can produce before March 31, check with your co-op.

In some co-ops there are large amounts of temporary leasing available in the second and third phase. Be careful. Only apply for what you can safely and profitably produce.

If you have to feed high levels of meal and milk cows throughout the winter to supply it, the return for your efforts could be very marginal. Gambling on flexi milk next March is high risk.

Determine how much quota you have to produce until March 31. Use butterfat adjusted levels. Going on trends of recent years it will be triggered again. On the milk statement most co-ops show the butterfat adjusted volume you have left to supply.

If you are unsure, give them a ring. Next, work out how much milk you need from January until March 31. The best way is to calculate from your breeding charts with the help of how much you supplied in the same period last year. If your calving pattern hasn't changed the volume is likely to be similar to the 1998 supply.

Remember to take into account surplus milk fed to calves or carried over into the following year, particularly if you are under quota. Subtract the volume from what you have left to supply. This will give you the total amount to supply this Autumn and ensure you avoid underfeeding fresh calvers next Spring.

Plan to supply the Autumn milk as profitably as possible. Cows supplying 3.5 gallons throughout September will produce 105 gallons in the month. Taking a 0.5 gallon drop in milk yield per month as an average, October supply will be 3 gallons (90 gallons) and 2.5 gallons in November (75 gallons).

Take into account cows dried off early for high cell count, low yield and poor body condition.

First Calvers

Watch the condition of first calvers. Condition score for most cows is good, but first calvers are suffering in some herds. This situation will deteriorate if you are allocating heavy swards.

If milking on into November, target meals to first calvers and thin cows if possible. Otherwise ensure thin cows and first calvers get a longer dry period to allow they gain condition before calving.

Soil Sampling

The most accurate soil tests are achieved when P and K's have not been spread for the past two months. Take soil samples now. Ensure a representative sample is taken and avoid the middle of dung pats.