Meal: Farmers who have ordered meal over the last few weeks will be aware that costs are rising.

Obviously, reducing the amount of meal being fed will reduce costs, but it’s also important to look at the type and specification of the ration. Crude protein is not a true indicator of quality. Quality is determined by the ufl or metabolisable energy of the meal.

The amount of protein is important, because it should match what the animal needs, but a low-protein dairy nut can be every bit as high in quality as a high-protein dairy nut.

Dairy cows in early lactation will need a protein level of between 16% and 18% in the overall diet.

As forage (grass and/or silage) makes up about two-thirds of the diet, it has a big impact on protein levels.

Grass silage is low in protein at around 11% to 13%, whereas grazed grass in spring is high in crude protein at between 20% and 24%.

If there is a high likelihood of some grass being in the diet this spring, a lower crude protein nut of around 14% should achieve the overall diet protein target.

That means higher-protein nuts should be reserved for those that definitely won’t be having grass in the diet and even then they are unlikely to achieve the target protein level.

Grass: As calving rates ramp up and cows go to grass, it’s important to allocate grass to ensure good intakes and clean outs. There are a few ways of allocating grass. One example is to:

  • 1 Work out how many cows are going grazing and how much grass they are going to eat per grazing. For example, 15 cows eating 4kg of grass per grazing means the total amount of grass being allocated is 60kg of dry matter.
  • 2 Work out the area of the paddock and the amount of grass in it. For example a 0.75ha paddock with a cover of 900kg/ha means the total amount of grass in the paddock is 675kg.
  • 3 Divide the daily allocation by the total amount of grass in the field to work out how many grazings are in the paddock. In this example, there are 11 grazings in the paddock.

    • The next method is more suitable when cow numbers are changing regularly or where grass covers differ across the field.

  • 1 Work out how many cows are grazing and how much grass they are eating in the 12-hour break, for example 15 cows eating 4kg is a total demand of 60kg.
  • 2 Work out how many metres squared are needed to give 1kg of grass dry matter. To do this, divide the cover into 10,000. For example, a cover of 900kg into 10,000 is 11.1m2 per kilo of dry matter. The higher the cover of grass, the lower the number of metres squared to get 1kg of dry matter.
  • 3 Multiply this number by the demand to work out the total allocation. So in this case, 11.1 multiplied by 60kg is 666m2. This is how much area you need to give the cows.
  • 4 To work out where to put the fence, measure the width of the paddock and then divide this into 666.