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I was planning to go back to milking twice this past week but the changeable weather and the need to find a milker for two evenings changed my mind. Truth be told, the clear evenings is looking increasingly attractive.
The morning schedule is a different matter. OAD means 10 to 11 minutes per round instead of 7 to 8, so I now have breakfast before milking.
Looking at better grass and full udders tells me to drive for yield, although the milk price forecast is probably worse than the weather forecast.
Hindsight would tell me that I shouldn’t have left out any stock before I was sure they could stay out. I would hope the reality is that it has been an exceptional spring.
I had a chat with a few friends and advisors. The key now is preparing to start breeding next week. I obviously need cashflow but maximising the submission and conception rates has to be a priority. The least change in management and diet now the better, though I will be eliminating silage, it’s only making up 1.5kg dm in the diet anyway.
Current pre-grazing covers are around 1600kg dm/ha which is reasonable. Just looking at that would seem all is on track, however regrowth is being hampered by the fact the poached ground has hardened on the surface with the northerly winds. Friday’s rain, in between the hailstones and thunder, should help. The lightening will also apparently release extra nitrogen from the atmosphere. Overall cover is at only 121kg dm/LU so I am considering soya hulls as a cheap buffer mixed with coarse ration.
Milk price
My milk price for March milk was 30.342 cpl including vat at a butterfat of 4.49% and 3.42% protein. I am lucky the Barryroe/Carbery milk price is well ahead of most of the country, though further drops are being talked of.
As I discussed last week the yields had been dropping. Given the herd profile which includes autumn calvers milking since last October, I had hoped to have 20litres, but that had dropped to 16. The protein was dropping to 3.3% which showed an energy deficit. OAD yield has, as expected, dropped to 14litres but the solids jumped instantly. Protein is climbing each week, 3.5 to 3.6 to the current 3.7%, so energy levels are back on track, something that is obvious just looking at the cows too. Butterfat is averaging around 4.5%.
Hindsight would tell me that I shouldn’t have left out any stock before I was sure they could stay out. I would hope the reality is that it has been an exceptional spring. Onwards and upwards from here.
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