Ideal conditions over the past fortnight have allowed Dairylink Tyrone farmers Robin Clements and Kevin McGrade to continue a certain amount of grazing into the autumn. However, this week, Robin has decided to house freshly calved cows as grass supply is tight and he wants to keep staler cows out longer.
Indoor-fed cows are being given a base diet through the wagon of silage and 2kg/cow of a high energy blend. Then they are topped up in the parlour, depending on yield.
On the other hand, Kevin McGrade currently has cows grazing both day and night. He has his parlour feeding to yield above 17 litres, which means he is expecting grass to deliver enough energy for cow maintenance plus the 17 litres. Kevin is aware this is challenging the herd, however, cow condition is generally excellent and he feels this is due to the high dry matter grass available.
In Co Down, Nigel Corbett started calving last week, but he is still able to have the cows out at grass both day and night. He plans to group his cows based on their stage of lactation for the next four weeks – with freshly calved cows housed day and night, receiving good-quality silage and feed to yield in the parlour. The maintenance plus (M+) will be set based on silage analysis to get as much milk from the good-quality silage Nigel has on the farm. Silage has been sent for analysis and he is waiting for the results to finalise the feeding plan for these cows.
Late-lactation cows will be housed at night, then separated using an automatic drafting gate as they leave the parlour each morning. Nigel hopes to be able to allocate grass to these cows during daytime up until early November.
This week, Bill Brown on the Ards Peninsula has housed all freshly calved cows both day and night, and has moved to a full winter ration for this group. More cows were dried off last week, leaving a small group of late-lactation cows still grazing day and night on the grazing platform. These cows will probably move to daytime-only grazing if wet conditions continue.
Basics of winter feeding
Get your silage tested: efficiency of feeding is critical this winter when the milk price is low, and maximising silage potential will save in concentrate feeding. Consequently, it is important to have silage analysed to establish its full feed potential as this will allow sensible decisions to be made on the level of supplementation needed. Table 1 highlights the difference in concentrate feed levels required to sustain 30 litres/cow/day. This is based on the quality of silage made on Bill Brown’s farm in 2014 against silage made on the farm this year.Calculate your forage requirements: forage quantity is generally not as much of an issue this year. However, both Dairylink project farms in Tyrone suspect they will have less tonnage than in previous years from a similar silage area, so forage quantity could be an issue later in the year. This highlights the importance of calculating the tonnage of silage available on your farm and comparing this with the likely winter demand. To calculate the volume of silage in a silo, work out the cubic capacity of the silo (length x width x height), then use the conversion factors in table 2 to convert the volume of silage to tonnes.Where is feed efficiency lost: on many farms feeding costs are increasing for the winter, with calving well under way in many autumn-calving units. It is critical to monitor this cost and make sure feed is allocated efficiently. Small changes in fertility or a slip in the calving profile can result in a more spread calving pattern than some farmers would like. This can result in increased feed costs if concentrate is not monitored and targeted to cows correctly.
Table 3, developed by Greenmount College, highlights the potential additional cost associated with various feeding plans for a 150-cow herd with a spread calving pattern over a six-month winter period.
Consequently, in the short term a detailed feed plan will help reduce feed costs with a more targeted approach to concentrate feeding. Grouping cows will limit the amount of overfeeding to late lactation cows, and ensure that cows that are producing milk are fed correctly to limit body condition loss and to maximise milk output. In the longer term, however, more emphasis must be placed on cow fertility. In particular the calving pattern within a herd.
All dairy farmers must take a critical look at the production systems on their farms by considering the following three questions: what is the calving pattern of your herd? What is the financial advantage for this calving pattern? Is your herd calving pattern delivering in terms of overall farm objectives?
Ideal conditions over the past fortnight have allowed Dairylink Tyrone farmers Robin Clements and Kevin McGrade to continue a certain amount of grazing into the autumn. However, this week, Robin has decided to house freshly calved cows as grass supply is tight and he wants to keep staler cows out longer.
Indoor-fed cows are being given a base diet through the wagon of silage and 2kg/cow of a high energy blend. Then they are topped up in the parlour, depending on yield.
On the other hand, Kevin McGrade currently has cows grazing both day and night. He has his parlour feeding to yield above 17 litres, which means he is expecting grass to deliver enough energy for cow maintenance plus the 17 litres. Kevin is aware this is challenging the herd, however, cow condition is generally excellent and he feels this is due to the high dry matter grass available.
In Co Down, Nigel Corbett started calving last week, but he is still able to have the cows out at grass both day and night. He plans to group his cows based on their stage of lactation for the next four weeks – with freshly calved cows housed day and night, receiving good-quality silage and feed to yield in the parlour. The maintenance plus (M+) will be set based on silage analysis to get as much milk from the good-quality silage Nigel has on the farm. Silage has been sent for analysis and he is waiting for the results to finalise the feeding plan for these cows.
Late-lactation cows will be housed at night, then separated using an automatic drafting gate as they leave the parlour each morning. Nigel hopes to be able to allocate grass to these cows during daytime up until early November.
This week, Bill Brown on the Ards Peninsula has housed all freshly calved cows both day and night, and has moved to a full winter ration for this group. More cows were dried off last week, leaving a small group of late-lactation cows still grazing day and night on the grazing platform. These cows will probably move to daytime-only grazing if wet conditions continue.
Basics of winter feeding
Get your silage tested: efficiency of feeding is critical this winter when the milk price is low, and maximising silage potential will save in concentrate feeding. Consequently, it is important to have silage analysed to establish its full feed potential as this will allow sensible decisions to be made on the level of supplementation needed. Table 1 highlights the difference in concentrate feed levels required to sustain 30 litres/cow/day. This is based on the quality of silage made on Bill Brown’s farm in 2014 against silage made on the farm this year.Calculate your forage requirements: forage quantity is generally not as much of an issue this year. However, both Dairylink project farms in Tyrone suspect they will have less tonnage than in previous years from a similar silage area, so forage quantity could be an issue later in the year. This highlights the importance of calculating the tonnage of silage available on your farm and comparing this with the likely winter demand. To calculate the volume of silage in a silo, work out the cubic capacity of the silo (length x width x height), then use the conversion factors in table 2 to convert the volume of silage to tonnes.Where is feed efficiency lost: on many farms feeding costs are increasing for the winter, with calving well under way in many autumn-calving units. It is critical to monitor this cost and make sure feed is allocated efficiently. Small changes in fertility or a slip in the calving profile can result in a more spread calving pattern than some farmers would like. This can result in increased feed costs if concentrate is not monitored and targeted to cows correctly.
Table 3, developed by Greenmount College, highlights the potential additional cost associated with various feeding plans for a 150-cow herd with a spread calving pattern over a six-month winter period.
Consequently, in the short term a detailed feed plan will help reduce feed costs with a more targeted approach to concentrate feeding. Grouping cows will limit the amount of overfeeding to late lactation cows, and ensure that cows that are producing milk are fed correctly to limit body condition loss and to maximise milk output. In the longer term, however, more emphasis must be placed on cow fertility. In particular the calving pattern within a herd.
All dairy farmers must take a critical look at the production systems on their farms by considering the following three questions: what is the calving pattern of your herd? What is the financial advantage for this calving pattern? Is your herd calving pattern delivering in terms of overall farm objectives?
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: