Grass

The grass situation differs depending on where you are in the country. Generally speaking, areas that were hardest hit with the drought last summer are growing the best now. Some farms have never had as much grass available for grazing as they have now. Other parts of the country haven’t quite as much grass but are still growing very well. High temperatures and dry weather for the coming week will drive it on further. The first thing is to work out how much grass you have. Do a grass walk and score your paddocks. If you can’t put numbers on them, score them low, medium and high. If you’ve more than 25% of the farm with high covers, you’ve a lot of grass. Getting through all of this grass will require new thinking. If the farm is stocked at less than three cows/ha and less than 20% of the farm has been grazed, dry cows should be out now. Fresh grass is not an ideal feed for them – it’s too high in calcium and it’s hard to give minerals when outdoors. Some are bringing them in two weeks before calving to give them silage and minerals. Others are giving minerals in the field, using licks or giving free access to powder minerals in tubs. Effectively, these dry cows have a job to do and that is to bring down the cover to make it more manageable for the milking cows. When they have that done they need to come back indoors.

Fertiliser

With so much grass around, some are wondering if they should spread fertiliser now or wait until later in the spring. Generally speaking, nitrogen is not limiting growth now. Grass is green and growth is good. But that could change fast if the weather changes in March. The fertiliser spread now will be used for growing grass in March and April. Get it out now when conditions are good. Those who have spread nitrogen in January should consider spreading compound fertiliser next. Fields that are low in phosphorus and potash and didn’t get slurry should get 250kg/ha of 18:6:12, or two bags/acre in old language. Ground and weather conditions should be good before spreading 18:6:12 as it’s less stable in the soil than urea. The earlier the phosphorus is spread the better and when conditions are good it’s an ideal time to get it out. You should probably leave around five weeks between the first and the second application of fertiliser. You should also try to get slurry out on grazed paddocks. The more slurry spread now the better as more of the nitrogen is available in early spring.

Hygiene

With between 30% and 70% of cows calved on dairy farms, it’s a good time to look at cleaning out calving pens and calf sheds. The calving pen is the critical one as there will be a fair build-up of bugs and bacteria after a good few cows have passed through them. Warm temperatures next week will multiply bacteria. The combination of heat, straw, dung and discharged cleanings is an ideal environment for bacteria. Cleaning out calving sheds removes the pressure. If time isn’t available for power-washing, disinfect with hydrated lime before bedding down again. The same applies for calf feeders and milk feeding bottles. Give them a good wash and sterilise them.

Read more

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Dairy management: will you get 30% of the farm grazed?