Since the beginning of the Farm Profit Programme in early 2017 we have endured two very different years. Last year’s difficult and wet second half to the year resulted in an early onset of winter regimes, whereas this year the prolonged dry spell has meant winter fodder stocks are well behind where they should be.
Two things that have become apparent from all this:
These extremes in weather patterns are to become more common.Having a plan in place that is flexible and constantly reviewed is critically important to help minimise the knock on effects of difficult weather.With this in mind the Farm Profit Programme team will host an open meeting at Thainstone on Friday next the 17 August at 2pm. The aim of this meeting is to provide options and solutions for farmers facing fodder shortages this winter.
Fodder budget
The important thing for all farmers is to access the situation now, while there is still time to take corrective action. On the day we will look at the importance of fodder budgeting which is the starting point of any winter fodder plan. While it is well reported that silage crops are significantly back on other years, you need to establish the extent of this on your own farm.
Silage sample
Remember that silage was made in much better conditions this year than the last number of years and therefore there is potentially both a quality and dry matter benefit here. Where silage may have been in the low to mid-20s for dry matter last year, this could well be above 30% this year.
Again, this highlights the importance of having your silage correctly analysed. To get a true reflection of the quality of forage in the yard, multiple samples must be taken. For silage pits multiple cores of the entire profile of the pit are required, whereas with bales a core of multiple bales will give a more representative sample. Grabbing samples from the pit face or from one bale that is about to be fed out to animals offers very little insight to the overall quality.
Stock numbers
The next thing to figure out is the number of stock to be wintered this year. There are steps we can take to reduce the demand for winter fodder. Culling underperforming cows should be the first step. These cows are costing your business money in a good year never mind in a year like this.
Another option is to pull the bull out from the cows a week or two earlier. Pregnancy scan all the cows 40 days after the bull is removed and cull those not in calf. This will tighten up your calving interval for next spring and allow you to reduce the number of animals on farm this winter slightly.
However, it is important to have a plan to boost breeding numbers again next year to avoid any reduction in output. In many businesses it’s the fixed costs that hamper profitability – reducing numbers, and therefore output, only compounds this issue.
Earlier weaning of calves will also help maintain cow condition coming into the winter and is, in effect, “money in the bank” as cows can utilise some of this condition throughout winter in the run up to calving. Supplementing growing calves that will have a conversion of around 4kg of concentrate to 1kg of liveweight gain makes a lot more sense than trying to build up condition in cows whose feed-to-gain efficiency will be much poorer.
Fodder options
We must remember we are still only in mid-August. Ground conditions are excellent, soil temperatures are extremely high and there is still a lot of growth potential in grass. Areas that have had some moisture over the past two weeks will have seen the increase in growth rates. There is an opportunity to go out with 35-40kgN to ground that has not had a large application prior to the dry spell, and on young grass leys with high levels of ryegrass that will respond to nitrogen application.
We will also look at forage crop options on the day. There are options here for sowing into stubble ground or even identifying grass that needs reseeding next year and sowing a forage crop in now. This will boost winter reserves with the added benefit of no bedding costs, reduced feed delivery costs and dung spread for free.
Bedding options
Finally, we will look at options for bedding stock this winter. What can we do to stretch the straw we have available? Where we do not have enough straw, we will look at alternatives as well as the costs and practicality of each. We will also speak to farmers who have tried alternatives in the past to see what method works best.
Focus farm walks
The Farm Profit Programme has been running for just over 18 months, with great strides being made on the six focus farms in year one, leading to an increase in gross margin of £115/cow and £3/ewe. This has been achieved by refocusing on the basics at farm level, with soil fertility, grassland management and setting key production targets being central to each farm business plan.
Two of the focus farms will host farm walks to showcase some of the changes they have made over the course of the programme and give an update on how they are dealing with the prolonged dry spell to keep stock thriving as well as trying to secure enough winter fodder.
On 15 August at 11am the Mackay family at Greenvale farm, Dunnet, Thurso will open its doors to the public. The family runs a 368ha-farm carrying 160 spring- and summer-calving cows. The Mackays have seen their gross margin/cow rise from £405 and £291 in 2016 to £618 and £560 in 2017 for spring- and summer-calving cows respectively.
The main changes here included improved silage quality leading to improved daily liveweight gains in young stock as well as less concentrate being needed.
Another change was the introduction of paddock grazing which has allowed the family to almost double the stocking rate on this ground.
Managing cow body condition at crucial points throughout the year has improved overall performance of the herd in terms of fertility, milk production and calving ease.
Building condition on cows throughout the second half of the grazing season has also allowed the Mackays to reduce the cost of the winter diet as they utilise body condition in the winter months.
Some focus points of walk will be:
Rotational grazing – making it work on your farm.Cow type – getting cows that will contribute to the bottom line.Soil health – drainage, aeration and soil fertility.On 5 September at 11am the Duffus family, Mains of Auchriachan, Tomintoul will host a farm walk open to the public. They run a 1,540ha-hill unit with around 100 suckler cows and 600 ewes. Gross margin has increased by £116/cow and £81/cow on both the spring and autumn herd respectively in year one.
A primary objective for the family is to make better use of the hill ground. To do so they have put 20 hill heifers to the bull this year and over the coming years will continue to build on this number. The idea is to have the cows out on the hill breaking up the heather and improve the grazing. As they do this, ewes and lambs will then benefit from the improved grazing and the cows will be pushed out further on the hill to do the same.
The Duffus’ have embraced rotational grazing on the farm with more and more paddocks being introduced all the time. This allows them to manage grass more easily and ensure stock are constantly grazing high quality swards.
A further change that will happen this winter is the use of woodchip as a bedding source to replace straw up to the point of calving. Optimal woodchip depths and bedding techniques will be discussed as well as hearing from farmers that have used it in the past.
On the day there will be a focus on:
Woodchip bedding as an alternative to straw.Soil health and fertility.Rotational grazing.
Since the beginning of the Farm Profit Programme in early 2017 we have endured two very different years. Last year’s difficult and wet second half to the year resulted in an early onset of winter regimes, whereas this year the prolonged dry spell has meant winter fodder stocks are well behind where they should be.
Two things that have become apparent from all this:
These extremes in weather patterns are to become more common.Having a plan in place that is flexible and constantly reviewed is critically important to help minimise the knock on effects of difficult weather.With this in mind the Farm Profit Programme team will host an open meeting at Thainstone on Friday next the 17 August at 2pm. The aim of this meeting is to provide options and solutions for farmers facing fodder shortages this winter.
Fodder budget
The important thing for all farmers is to access the situation now, while there is still time to take corrective action. On the day we will look at the importance of fodder budgeting which is the starting point of any winter fodder plan. While it is well reported that silage crops are significantly back on other years, you need to establish the extent of this on your own farm.
Silage sample
Remember that silage was made in much better conditions this year than the last number of years and therefore there is potentially both a quality and dry matter benefit here. Where silage may have been in the low to mid-20s for dry matter last year, this could well be above 30% this year.
Again, this highlights the importance of having your silage correctly analysed. To get a true reflection of the quality of forage in the yard, multiple samples must be taken. For silage pits multiple cores of the entire profile of the pit are required, whereas with bales a core of multiple bales will give a more representative sample. Grabbing samples from the pit face or from one bale that is about to be fed out to animals offers very little insight to the overall quality.
Stock numbers
The next thing to figure out is the number of stock to be wintered this year. There are steps we can take to reduce the demand for winter fodder. Culling underperforming cows should be the first step. These cows are costing your business money in a good year never mind in a year like this.
Another option is to pull the bull out from the cows a week or two earlier. Pregnancy scan all the cows 40 days after the bull is removed and cull those not in calf. This will tighten up your calving interval for next spring and allow you to reduce the number of animals on farm this winter slightly.
However, it is important to have a plan to boost breeding numbers again next year to avoid any reduction in output. In many businesses it’s the fixed costs that hamper profitability – reducing numbers, and therefore output, only compounds this issue.
Earlier weaning of calves will also help maintain cow condition coming into the winter and is, in effect, “money in the bank” as cows can utilise some of this condition throughout winter in the run up to calving. Supplementing growing calves that will have a conversion of around 4kg of concentrate to 1kg of liveweight gain makes a lot more sense than trying to build up condition in cows whose feed-to-gain efficiency will be much poorer.
Fodder options
We must remember we are still only in mid-August. Ground conditions are excellent, soil temperatures are extremely high and there is still a lot of growth potential in grass. Areas that have had some moisture over the past two weeks will have seen the increase in growth rates. There is an opportunity to go out with 35-40kgN to ground that has not had a large application prior to the dry spell, and on young grass leys with high levels of ryegrass that will respond to nitrogen application.
We will also look at forage crop options on the day. There are options here for sowing into stubble ground or even identifying grass that needs reseeding next year and sowing a forage crop in now. This will boost winter reserves with the added benefit of no bedding costs, reduced feed delivery costs and dung spread for free.
Bedding options
Finally, we will look at options for bedding stock this winter. What can we do to stretch the straw we have available? Where we do not have enough straw, we will look at alternatives as well as the costs and practicality of each. We will also speak to farmers who have tried alternatives in the past to see what method works best.
Focus farm walks
The Farm Profit Programme has been running for just over 18 months, with great strides being made on the six focus farms in year one, leading to an increase in gross margin of £115/cow and £3/ewe. This has been achieved by refocusing on the basics at farm level, with soil fertility, grassland management and setting key production targets being central to each farm business plan.
Two of the focus farms will host farm walks to showcase some of the changes they have made over the course of the programme and give an update on how they are dealing with the prolonged dry spell to keep stock thriving as well as trying to secure enough winter fodder.
On 15 August at 11am the Mackay family at Greenvale farm, Dunnet, Thurso will open its doors to the public. The family runs a 368ha-farm carrying 160 spring- and summer-calving cows. The Mackays have seen their gross margin/cow rise from £405 and £291 in 2016 to £618 and £560 in 2017 for spring- and summer-calving cows respectively.
The main changes here included improved silage quality leading to improved daily liveweight gains in young stock as well as less concentrate being needed.
Another change was the introduction of paddock grazing which has allowed the family to almost double the stocking rate on this ground.
Managing cow body condition at crucial points throughout the year has improved overall performance of the herd in terms of fertility, milk production and calving ease.
Building condition on cows throughout the second half of the grazing season has also allowed the Mackays to reduce the cost of the winter diet as they utilise body condition in the winter months.
Some focus points of walk will be:
Rotational grazing – making it work on your farm.Cow type – getting cows that will contribute to the bottom line.Soil health – drainage, aeration and soil fertility.On 5 September at 11am the Duffus family, Mains of Auchriachan, Tomintoul will host a farm walk open to the public. They run a 1,540ha-hill unit with around 100 suckler cows and 600 ewes. Gross margin has increased by £116/cow and £81/cow on both the spring and autumn herd respectively in year one.
A primary objective for the family is to make better use of the hill ground. To do so they have put 20 hill heifers to the bull this year and over the coming years will continue to build on this number. The idea is to have the cows out on the hill breaking up the heather and improve the grazing. As they do this, ewes and lambs will then benefit from the improved grazing and the cows will be pushed out further on the hill to do the same.
The Duffus’ have embraced rotational grazing on the farm with more and more paddocks being introduced all the time. This allows them to manage grass more easily and ensure stock are constantly grazing high quality swards.
A further change that will happen this winter is the use of woodchip as a bedding source to replace straw up to the point of calving. Optimal woodchip depths and bedding techniques will be discussed as well as hearing from farmers that have used it in the past.
On the day there will be a focus on:
Woodchip bedding as an alternative to straw.Soil health and fertility.Rotational grazing. 
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