All second cut silage has been ensiled on James King’s farm near Ballymena, Co Antrim. The first 65 acres of second cut went in on 26 June.
“Weather was changeable at the time, so we decided to hold back 35 acres because it looked like we wouldn’t be able to get it all in before the rain,” James said.
Broken weather conditions at the beginning of the month meant it was over a week later before the Kings got the rest of second cut mowed and lifted.
James is pleased with the quality and bulk of winter fodder so far this year. Analysis of first cut, which was mowed on 10 May, gives a digestibility (D) value of 71.4, metabolisable energy of 11.4 MJ/kg DM and a crude protein of 13.4%.
“It has the ability to give 11 litres of milk, which is better than last year’s first cut which analysed at nine litres,” James said.
A nutrient management plan for the King farm has been drawn up by Dairylink adviser Aidan Cushnahan. The plan for silage ground ahead of third cut is to apply dairy cow slurry at 2,500 gallons/acre, plus 1.85 bags straight CAN (27% nitrogen).
Autumn calving
James is currently milking 175 Holstein cows in a predominantly autumn-calving production profile. There have been 17 cows dried off so far ahead of the 2020/21 calving season.
At drying off, cows get dry cow tubes and sealers, as well as a high iodine bolus, a dose for fluke and worms plus a fly-repellent pour-on.
There are eight cows due to calve down before the end of August and 31 cows are due in September. All calves will be beef-sired, as James operates an open herd with replacements bought in.
The Co Antrim man is currently in the process of procuring replacements for the 2020/21 season. He is looking at high-EBI, high-health status Holstein stock from as few herds as possible.
James is also working with his local vet and Aidan Cushnahan to develop an updated herd health plan, with a strong focus on quarantine protocol for newly bought-in stock.
Monthly
Dairylink participants benchmark herd performance figures monthly through CAFRE’s margin over concentrate (MOC) tool. The most recent figures for May show the King herd averaged 25.9 litres/cow/day, with 13.5 litres/cow/day coming from forage.
This is slightly less than the average figure across all users of the online programme for May milk, which stood at 14.1 litres/cow/day.
The overall figure for MOC, which is effectively the monthly milk cheque minus the meal bill, came to £4.84/cow/day on the King farm.
Grazing management and maintenance jobs
James has been doing some pre-mowing of grass in front of cows this year to help get better clean-outs and he is pleased with the results. However, most of the time, cows go into 36-hour breaks and paddocks are topped with the mower afterwards if need be.
Grass growth rates on the King farm dipped during the dry spell in late May and early June, hitting a low of 54.3kg DM/ha/day in the first week of June.
Once rain arrived, grass jumped out of the ground and last week’s growth rate of 110kg DM/ha/day was the highest of the year on the King farm.
“We are recording over 100kg DM/ha/day, which is almost unheard of for us at that time of year. We have had plenty of rain recently, but ground conditions are still ideal for grazing,” James said.
The high growth rates over the past few weeks have allowed surplus grass on the milking platform to be taken out for silage. The most recent case was last Friday when two paddocks on the grazing block were ensiled with the remainder of second cut.
James has been topping and pre-mowing to hit target residual covers.
Latest figures
The latest grass walk carried out on Tuesday afternoon showed a growth rate of 56.8kg DM/ha/day over the previous seven days. Average farm cover is 1,059kg DM/ha, which equates to 227kg DM/cow. This is above the mid-season target of 160kg to 180kg DM/cow, so James plans to take more paddocks out for bales.
With the milking herd in late lactation and second cut in the pit, James has been using the quieter spell to carry out some maintenance work around the yard ahead of calving. He has been renovating an old building that had calf cubicles to use it as a straw-bedded calving shed.
James is also considering getting concrete floors in the main cow cubicle shed re-grooved to give cows a better grip and help prevent falls on the passageways during the winter.
Weekly round-up
Dairylink Ireland participants with autumn-calving cows are starting to dry off.Grass growth rates remain above the seasonal average across all programme farms.Second-cut silage has been completed and slurry and fertiliser is being applied for third cut.Some Dairylink participants are updating animal health plans in consultation with their local vet. Read more
Watch: pre-mowing a Co Down dairy farm
Watch: breeding finishing up in Monaghan
All second cut silage has been ensiled on James King’s farm near Ballymena, Co Antrim. The first 65 acres of second cut went in on 26 June.
“Weather was changeable at the time, so we decided to hold back 35 acres because it looked like we wouldn’t be able to get it all in before the rain,” James said.
Broken weather conditions at the beginning of the month meant it was over a week later before the Kings got the rest of second cut mowed and lifted.
James is pleased with the quality and bulk of winter fodder so far this year. Analysis of first cut, which was mowed on 10 May, gives a digestibility (D) value of 71.4, metabolisable energy of 11.4 MJ/kg DM and a crude protein of 13.4%.
“It has the ability to give 11 litres of milk, which is better than last year’s first cut which analysed at nine litres,” James said.
A nutrient management plan for the King farm has been drawn up by Dairylink adviser Aidan Cushnahan. The plan for silage ground ahead of third cut is to apply dairy cow slurry at 2,500 gallons/acre, plus 1.85 bags straight CAN (27% nitrogen).
Autumn calving
James is currently milking 175 Holstein cows in a predominantly autumn-calving production profile. There have been 17 cows dried off so far ahead of the 2020/21 calving season.
At drying off, cows get dry cow tubes and sealers, as well as a high iodine bolus, a dose for fluke and worms plus a fly-repellent pour-on.
There are eight cows due to calve down before the end of August and 31 cows are due in September. All calves will be beef-sired, as James operates an open herd with replacements bought in.
The Co Antrim man is currently in the process of procuring replacements for the 2020/21 season. He is looking at high-EBI, high-health status Holstein stock from as few herds as possible.
James is also working with his local vet and Aidan Cushnahan to develop an updated herd health plan, with a strong focus on quarantine protocol for newly bought-in stock.
Monthly
Dairylink participants benchmark herd performance figures monthly through CAFRE’s margin over concentrate (MOC) tool. The most recent figures for May show the King herd averaged 25.9 litres/cow/day, with 13.5 litres/cow/day coming from forage.
This is slightly less than the average figure across all users of the online programme for May milk, which stood at 14.1 litres/cow/day.
The overall figure for MOC, which is effectively the monthly milk cheque minus the meal bill, came to £4.84/cow/day on the King farm.
Grazing management and maintenance jobs
James has been doing some pre-mowing of grass in front of cows this year to help get better clean-outs and he is pleased with the results. However, most of the time, cows go into 36-hour breaks and paddocks are topped with the mower afterwards if need be.
Grass growth rates on the King farm dipped during the dry spell in late May and early June, hitting a low of 54.3kg DM/ha/day in the first week of June.
Once rain arrived, grass jumped out of the ground and last week’s growth rate of 110kg DM/ha/day was the highest of the year on the King farm.
“We are recording over 100kg DM/ha/day, which is almost unheard of for us at that time of year. We have had plenty of rain recently, but ground conditions are still ideal for grazing,” James said.
The high growth rates over the past few weeks have allowed surplus grass on the milking platform to be taken out for silage. The most recent case was last Friday when two paddocks on the grazing block were ensiled with the remainder of second cut.
James has been topping and pre-mowing to hit target residual covers.
Latest figures
The latest grass walk carried out on Tuesday afternoon showed a growth rate of 56.8kg DM/ha/day over the previous seven days. Average farm cover is 1,059kg DM/ha, which equates to 227kg DM/cow. This is above the mid-season target of 160kg to 180kg DM/cow, so James plans to take more paddocks out for bales.
With the milking herd in late lactation and second cut in the pit, James has been using the quieter spell to carry out some maintenance work around the yard ahead of calving. He has been renovating an old building that had calf cubicles to use it as a straw-bedded calving shed.
James is also considering getting concrete floors in the main cow cubicle shed re-grooved to give cows a better grip and help prevent falls on the passageways during the winter.
Weekly round-up
Dairylink Ireland participants with autumn-calving cows are starting to dry off.Grass growth rates remain above the seasonal average across all programme farms.Second-cut silage has been completed and slurry and fertiliser is being applied for third cut.Some Dairylink participants are updating animal health plans in consultation with their local vet. Read more
Watch: pre-mowing a Co Down dairy farm
Watch: breeding finishing up in Monaghan
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