The weekly job roster here in Canterbury had two words pencilled in which I’m not overly fond of – herd testing – Wednesday morning. The thoughts of testing the 700-cow herd, along with all followers, had me thinking they were being very ambitious in aiming to do it in one day, never mind one morning. Thankfully, as it turned out, herd testing over here means milk recording.

With cups on at 4.30am Wednesday morning, we had 660 cows successfully recorded and in for the cornflakes by 8.30am.

Milk recording on this farm is carried out four times during the season and is only done for one milking, with models used to estimate total yield for that day. In the past, it was carried out over two milkings, but one milking is deemed more time efficient and cost effective now, with the desired data still acquired.

Low milk prices

Even with the recent low milk price payout, on the lowest-cost farms I have been on, milk recording is one part of the budget which has not been sacrificed. The results are of huge benefit, as they show each cow’s ranking in the herd, where she is in terms of production and, more importantly, her somatic cell count (SCC) readings. Culling decisions are largely based on milk recording results, with some cows considered uneconomic to carry – these can be earmarked for culling as a result of a poor performance.

SCC on the bulk tank collections has been 60,000 to 75,000 cells/ml over the last week, with management overall very satisfied with current results. Surprisingly, from our milk recording results, seven cows were identified with readings of over one million, which we immediately identified the next morning and separated from the main herd for further investigation and treatment.

Grass is measured on the farm on a weekly basis. Now, as you can imagine, it’s not overly practical to walk a 500-acre block, so an instrument that trails behind our farm gator is used to measure the grass cover in each paddock. This takes roughly an hour to complete, but it is time very well spent, as it allows us to make informed management decisions for the week ahead.

Growth rate was measured at 75kg DM/ha last week, which presented us with the possibility of not finishing our first round of grazing and having to remove surplus grass from the platform in the form of baled silage. Fortunately, we did not rush this decision. With a noticeable reduction in growth due to cooler conditions and less moisture available, we have now finished our first round on 24 September.

Playing catch-up

On a side note, many farms in the area are seven or eight days into their second round, with covers below optimum and a lot of supplementary feed being fed due to beginning the second round too soon. They are evidently playing catch-up now, which is a reminder of the importance of matching both calving date and stocking rate to grass growth and sticking to your spring rotation planner.

During the week, I walked some of the second-round paddocks, with the benefit of hitting target residuals on first grazing evident as feed value looks very good. From closer inspections, it is clear the plant has green leaf to the base, which is the aim for every rotation out here, but not always easily achieved (yes, toppers are used here too when necessary).

With the final round of grazing approaching back home, good clean-outs are essential for quality, cheap feed next spring – a lesson which has been drilled into me out here. Without a doubt, we have far more challenging conditions in terms of hitting residuals with current high rainfall, combined with strong covers. Nevertheless, it should remain a focus point with high-quality spring grass a good return on strategic, smart grazing right now.

Both herds are continuing on 12-hour breaks, with back fences used always to protect regrowths. The diet for both herds now is solely grass and 1kg rolled barley (with some molasses), with the overall herd performing well. Herd average yield is continuing to increase. Currently, we are selling 2.3kg MS/cow/day and it’s made up with 27.5 litres at 3.77% protein and 4.59% fat.

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