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The range of steps taken to improve utilisation of grazed grass on Bill Brown’s farm near Millisle, Co Down, will take different lengths of time to filter through into results.
One of the first measures to have an effect after being implemented by Bill when he joined the programme in 2015 was weekly grass measuring.
Bill told visitors to his farm last week that measuring has improved his management of grass, particularly when growth is either well ahead of or behind demand. He said that it also allows him to clearly identify underperforming swards for reseeding.
Average farm cover was 2,400kg DM/ha (900kg DM/ha utilisable) last Thursday and growth was 40kg DM/ha/day. Urea was spread on almost all the grazing platform at three-quarters of a bag per acre at the end of February. The plan is to get the same amount of urea on to the grazing block again this week.
Grazing has been stop-start this spring on Bill’s farm and he hopes to get cows out day and night this week with drier weather forecast. Bill is also prepared for growth rates to take off as temperatures rise and he is preparing to take covers out for short-term silage.
He told visitors that he will resist the urge to hold surplus paddocks until first-cut silage in the middle of May, as this would push up stocking rate on the grazing platform for a considerable time.
Instead, surplus grass will be cut and baled earlier to allow these paddocks to rejoin the grazing rotation quickly.
Average grass growth was 14.8t DM/ha last year on the farm, up from 14t DM/ha in 2016. However, these figures may be inflated slightly, as Bill said that he sometimes struggles to get cows to clean out paddocks to the target residual cover of 1,500kg DM/ha, particularly when silage is being buffer-fed or cows are housed by night.
Soil fertility
Soil fertility on Bill’s farm has improved significantly since he joined the Dairylink Ireland project. In January 2015, 87% of the farm was deficient in phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and/or pH. Soil analysis results from January 2018 indicate that 72% of the farm is now optimal for P, K and pH.
Soil analysis has been carried out annually to form a nutrient management plan for correcting deficiencies and meeting crop needs.
Bill has had a comprehensive liming programme to increase soil pH levels and compound fertilisers have been used to lift soil P and K. In 2017, Bill invested £18,488 (£183/ha) in lime and chemical fertiliser, up from £17,614 (£172/ha) the year before.
Bill is working off the recommendation of 15 units of P per acre and 25 units of K per acre to lift soil index levels from 0 to 1, or 1 to 2. At soil index levels of 2+, his crop requirement for grazing is 16 units of P and 0 units of K per acre and for silage ground it is 55 units of P and 100 units of K per care.
Another measure that has had a quick effect on grass utilisation is the develop of grazing infrastructure. Bill has invested in laneways and fencing to allow better access and multiple entry points to paddocks.
There are plans for further infrastructure development this year, with Bill planning to extend a laneway to get access to two six-acre fields in the silage block for grazing early in the season.
Over £15,000 was spent on the farm last year on improvements to grazing infrastructure and farm buildings.
Visitors were told that although these steps have yielded results in a short time, it will take a longer period until the full financial return on the investments are seen.
Genetics
A slow-burner in the development of the farm business is herd genetics. Bill has been moving away from breeding purebred Holstein cows to using high-EBI sires with some Friesian genetics. The aim is to improve herd fertility, reduce cow size and increase butterfat and protein levels.
However, the first of the EBI-bred heifers will only be ready for serving this autumn, so it will be several years before the change in genetics makes a significant difference in the herd.
Bill has also used some Jersey and Kiwi Cross genetics, but after buying in some Jersey-cross cows, he is unsure if this is the road he wants to go down in the long term. He said the main issues were with cow temperament and cows being too small for his parlour.
Bill bought in 15 black and white high-EBI in-calf cows from the Republic of Ireland last year and is pleased with them. One second-calver was singled out last week and is currently yielding 31 litres at 4.71% butterfat and 3.82% protein. She has 12% Jersey genetics, weighs 630kg, calved down on 30 October 2017 and went back in calf after 30 days.
An option discussed last week was to buy in more replacements like this cow for a few years to allow herd genetics to change faster. This has merit, but it has to be weighed up against the risk of buying in disease and herd health issues.
SHARING OPTIONS: