Dairy notes September 2007

With good grass growth this autumn most herds still have several weeks grazing ahead of them - plan to make maximum use of this grass to improve yields and reduce use of expensive concentrates. If grazing conditions allow, aim to keep stale cows out at grass to early December to delay the drop in yield normally encountered at housing. These cows can be restricted to 2 to 3 hours grazing per day from early November to delay full-time housing.

Fresh calvers will soon need to be housed at night. These cows need to reach maximum intake as soon as possible (within 8 weeks) after calving to prevent excessive loss of condition. Variable intakes of grass due to poor weather conditions can make this difficult to achieve. Provision of silage/TMR at night will help to maintain high dry matter intakes. If grazing conditions only allow 2 to 3 hours grazing per day, house these stock full-time.

A number of paddocks  on many farms are carrying very heavy covers (over 4000 KG DM/ha). Under grazing of these areas will allow a build-up of poor quality material in the bottom of the sward. If this is allowed to continue through the winter, swards will become open and patchy, grass feeding value will decline and milk production next spring will be hit. Use a following batch of dry/young cattle or sheep to graze these swards down tightly.  If this is not possible consider taking out the areas with the heaviest covers for round baling now.

Paddocks and silage fields targeted for March grazing should be closed off from early October to allow grass cover to build up to 2200 to 2400 KG Dry Matter (DM) per hectare by the end of November. Over the rest of the grazing area covers should be reduced to 1800 to 2000 KG DM per hectare by housing.

For those producers who have completed their slurry storage facilities under The Farm Nutrient Management Scheme the closed period for slurry application (15 October to 31 January) will apply this winter. Tanks should be emptied as soon as possible while there is still some growth and weather conditions are suitable.

Although much of the nitrogen will be lost, most of the phosphorous and potassium will be retained in the soil and be available for growth next year.

The best response, with least risk of pollution, will be achieved by:

For many producers with poor quality grass silage available, the production of high quality forage maize will play an important part in improving the economics of milk production this winter.  The ideal stage to harvest crop is at 30 to 35 percent Dry Matter (DM), when the grain will be golden yellow with a firm doughy texture and the leaf and stem light green to yellow in colour.

Trevor Gilliland from the Plant Testing Station at Crossnacreevy reports a large variation in the development of forage maize crops round the Province. While early sown crops are generally on course for harvesting at normal time, late sown crops are behind schedule – it is thought these crops have suffered more from the leaching of nutrients during the summers heavy rainfall and this has slowed development of the crop.

You will have to decide the correct time to cut your own crop - do not be panicked into early harvesting just because your neighbour has cut. Light frosts will do little damage to the crop.