Summer Feed Efficiency - 2009

Over the past few weeks, CAFRE Dairying Development Advisers have been running a series of on-farm training events.  The focus has been to look at the options for feeding cows economically this summer.  This is against a back-drop of poor weather, high feed and fertilizer costs and disappointing milk auction results.  Almost 600 farmers attended the series of events in late April and May.

To say that the 2009 grass-growing season has also been difficult would be an understatement.  A promising March allowed some farmers to get cows out to grass early. However, wet weather since mid April left ground conditions marginal at best, forcing many herds to be re-housed at night or full-time.  A small number of dairy farmers have been able to take advantage of a short window of good weather during the second week of May to make first cut silage and remove surplus grass from grazing paddocks with heavy grass covers.

The Summer Feed Efficiency farm walks were held on local farms across N. Ireland. Each host farmer explained what they were doing on their farm and current and rolling 12 month benchmarked herd performance.  A lot of discussion centered on how to manage cows yielding in excess of 35 litres, or 8 gallons in old money as one farmer said.  Some practical on farm options used to manage these high yielders have included:

It was recognised that labour was likely to be a major constraint in managing more than one group during the grazing season.  However, the Development Advisers highlighted that feeding a 20-litre cow a TMR suitable to sustain over 35 litres was costing an extra £1.00 per day at current prices.  In larger herds over the first 3 months of the grazing season, this is equivalent to an extra cost of almost £10,000.  

A major challenge on most dairy farms in N. Ireland is to offer cows the right quality of grass for grazing. In many cases pre-grazing sward covers offered are too high. Many farmers keep too much grass ahead of the cows as insurance against a future shortage. This reduces the quality of the grass eaten by the cows, reduces intake, restricts sward re-growth and results in grass being wasted through topping and trampling. The key message from the farm walks was to get cows out early enough to graze all the paddocks by the end of the last week of April. Immediately a grass surplus builds up, harvest the grass as big bale silage to get the paddock back into the grazing rotation three weeks later.

Old swards, particularly those cut regularly for silage for 10 years or more will have yields 15-25% less than those regularly reseeded every 6-7 years. These swards will also result in silage with energy levels of 1.0 to 1.5 units of ME lower than silage made regularly reseeded swards. The combined effect can be a cost of £12,500 for a 100-cow dairy herd. These issues were discussed while examining silage swards on the host farms. Establishing red clover in new reseeds could save an additional £3,000 in nitrogen fertiliser savings per annum.

CAFRE Dairying Advisers are holding a range of other Technology Transfer events throughout 2009 looking at opportunities for farmers to invest in new and updated technologies to improve farm performance, profitability and achieve a better work-life balance. If you are interested in attending any of the Technology Transfer Events listed below, contact your local Dairying Development Adviser:

The CAFRE Dairying Advisers would like to thank all the host farmers who made their farms available for the series of farm walks held in April and May.

The grazing management of cows in a spring calving herd on heavy land were demonstrated on the farm of Leslie Beggs outside Omagh.

Farmers attending the farm walk at Hamill Bros, Donaghcloney observed how a 9000+ litre herd can be managed with all the cows grazing day and night.

Dealing with difficult weather conditions, a high stocking rate, delayed turnout and managing the resulting high grass covers both pre and post grazing were discussed at the Doris Bros farm outside Coagh.