May 13th, 2010
report by farm facilitator Robert Burrow
THIS meeting had originally been planned for mid April, however due to the late spring and slow grass growth it was re-arranged to allow for sufficient grass cover and for Matt to be able to plan his grazing.
With the main aim being to replace some of the TMR diet with cheaper grazed grass. The cows will be housed at night and the amount of TMR fed will be adjusted daily depending on the amount of grass available that day.
To utilise grazed grass efficiently it needs to be fed as accurately as the TMR diet fed in winter - therefore grass growth should be measured weekly during the grazing season
Therefore the meeting focused on maintaining the current daily yield when the cows are turned out – this has increased over the past few months to nearly 30 litres per day and has been achieved by carefully monitoring the amount fed every day.
TOP TIPS
Grazed grass is still the cheapest feed available
In the past milk only went up when the cows went out because they were being under fed in winter
Cows need a constant supply of nutrients, rather than specific feeds
By using a back fence when strip grazing, 20% more grass is available by stopping cows eating the re-growth
Update Since the Last Meeting
The new dry cow housing is now working well, and the overall health of the milking cows has improved. This is mainly due to the improvement in the dry cow diets and the extra cubicle space now available in the main cow building.
Maintaining Yields at Grass
In his opening introduction Chris Savery stressed how cows are now becoming reliant on being fed TMR, and while it can deliver a consistent diet everyday, it does make cows ‘lazy grazers’ when they go out to grass.
He said due to grazed grass being the cheapest feed, everyone should make the most of it, although it is also valuable to establish which factor is the most important maintaining milk yields or utilising the grass, as it can be difficult to obtain both and is often a combination of both.
Grass a Real Crop!
Chris also described grazed grass as high quality forage, which should be taken advantage of early in the session and treated as a real crop, always taking into account the influence the weather has on growth rates and daily dry matter intakes and not to over-value autumn grass as the quality will decrease during the grazing season.
To keep everything moving forward, Chris explained all aspects of performance must be monitored regularly. This includes the contribution the forage plays in the diet if purchased feed costs are to be contained and the management of feeding is as important as the diet fed to the cows.
Measuring the Grass
To help Matt decide how much grass on a dry matter basis is available to the cows, Robert Craig (a British Grassland grazing mentor) explained to the group how to use both a rising plate meter and a grass measuring stick.
Robert stressed, to obtain the best out of the grass the cows need to be hungry when they enter the area to be grazed, otherwise all they will do is lie down and spoil more grass than they eat with dung.
By using the plate meter he explained that there was currently 2100 kilos per hectare of grass dry matter, than if the cows were to be taken out when they had grazed it down 1,500 kilos, there was currently 600 kilos available per hectare.
Planning Grazing
Using these figures Matt can now calculate how much TMR he can substitute with grazed grass. Bearing in mind that the availability will vary should the weather turn wet, affecting the dry matter intakes.
Grass grows one new leaf per week early in the season, however, once the forth leaf starts growing the first one starts to die, therefore the grazing area needs to be covered by the cows every three weeks to obtain the highest quality grass available.
This growth produces up to 100 kilos of dry matter per hectare per day, although Robert did say that this spring, growth had been both late and slow, he can also planned ahead as to how much is available over the coming weeks, although this will be more accurate if grass covers are measured and recorded on a weekly basis.
CONCLUSIONS FROM THE MEETING
To utilise grazed grass efficiently it needs to be fed as accurately as the TMR diet fed in winter
Grass growth should be measured weekly during the grazing season
Grazed grass is a high quality feed
Main Outcome from the Meeting
Matt will assess his available grazing on a daily basis and adjust the amount of TMR fed accordingly when the cows are housed at night.
Future Business Group Work
The next meeting will look at the comparative feed costs in the diet on a dry matter basis, to aid the selection of different feeds for the TMR diet. Group members will be notified of the date and time once arranged.
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April 1st, 2010
TOPIC – Summer Nutrition
CHRIS Savery from the Dairy Group, and British Grassland Society Grazing Mentor Robert Craig, will be looking at the nutrition of the dairy cow through the summer month’s at the next monitor farm meeting to be held at Matt Bland’s Hesket Farm in Dacre.
Where: Hesket Farm, Dacre, Nr Penrith CA11 0LU
When: Thursday 13th May Noon (Time to be confirmed)
(This meeting has been put back to May from April due to late Spring / ground conditions)
To book your place contact Cumbria Farmer Network
Tel: 01768 868 615
Email: bookings@cumbriafarmernetwork.co.uk
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December 17th, 2009
John Cook, UK Technical Services Director for Genus ABS, talks about herd fertility
Those attending had a really good discussion about the concerns that Victor Oudhuis from Paragon (Matt’s vet) expressed from the findings in the Animal Health Plan (AHP) he has carried out and there was a presentation given by John Cook, UK Technical Services Director for Genus ABS on herd fertility.
The number of farmers attending was slightly disappointing, probably due to having to re-arrange the meeting form the original date announced when the monitor farm was launched back in August, which was due to it clashing with a dairy meeting arranged by ADAS in the area.
EXTRA COW ACCOMODATION
One of Matt’s long term objectives is to increase the cow numbers from the current 180 to 300 which will require extra cow accommodation. This has already started with the erection of a straw bedded dry cow building that will eventually hold 30 – 40 dry cows. At present the building is run as one, however next summer when the cows are out, it is planned to divide the building into several pens that will then allow different diets to be fed to the cows during the dry period.
DRY COWS
Victor’s discussion explained how feeding the dry cows correctly whilst dry and in a separate building would benefit them once they have calved. As by ensuring they are not over fat, this will in the long term reduce the problem of Cystic Ovaries and help improve the herd’s fertility.
The group then looked at the new 15 sand-bedded cubicles Matt has installed in an old cattle building, which will also be used by transitional cows. They are free standing divisions with plenty of lunging room at the front, designed to give maximum comfort to either dry cows or newly calved ones.
Both buildings have an open feed barrier down one side, allowing the dry cows to eat maximum amounts of dry matter, necessary to keep the rumen working correctly during the dry period and by removing the dry cows from the within the building that houses the milk cows more space has been created, improving the overall environment within that building.
LAMENESS
Lameness particularly dermatitis has been a problem for Matt, which Victor feels could be reduced by encouraging the cows to lie down for longer periods (14 hrs per day) rather than “perching” in the cubicles and standing with their back feet in the slurry passage. This could be improved by raising the head rail to 1.20m, then installing a brisket board at 1.80m to stop the cows fouling the beds.
Another reason for this, discussed with the group was that the cows are short of feed space, meaning that some cows have to wait to feed that compounds the problem; along with the some areas of the building floor where slurry pooling is occurring.
PREP COWS IN BATCHES TO AVOID TEAT DAMAGE
He finished his talk in the new 20:40 milking parlour, which Matt built as the first part of his expansion plan, where he highlighted the need for a comprehensive milking routine.
The area here that now concerns Victor is that clusters must be applied within one minute of the end of teat preparation, as even though there are two people working in the parlour this is often not the case. He recommended that the cows are prepped in batches, then the clusters applied, to optimise the time between milk let down and when teat end damage can occur.
MASTITIS
Also as part of the routine to stop mastitis spreading, all high SCC and mastitis cows should be separated and milked last, if this is not possible then the clusters should be flushed thoroughly after milking these cows, along with the person milking keeping their hands/gloves clean, regularly washed and dipped in disinfectant.
HERD FERTILITY
The whole group then travelled to the nearby local village hall for John Cook’s presentation on fertility.
He opened his presentation by saying that having high yielding cows was not an excuse for poor fertility, that a calving index of 365 days is not realistic and the figure to aim for should be in the region of 385 – 390 days, which is achievable with the correct all-round cow management.
John then covered the four groups of factors affecting fertility – labour, the cow’s health and her management, semen quality, and the environment around the cow, including nutrition. All of these contribute to the losses that occur, from insemination to calving, which is currently 43%.
Some of the main factors to consider are:
- That the modern dairy cow now has more sets of twins.
- That some cows are having aberrant (abnormal) heats.
- Cows can cycle anywhere between 18 to 23 days.
- They are on heat for less time, with the mounting often now only lasting for 3 seconds and 60% of this occurring at night.
The talks by Victor and John were then followed by some very in-depth discussion around the whole aspect of maintaining the cow in her correct condition and environment to achieve optimum fertility.
The group then enjoyed a welcome hot-pot lunch on a cold winter’s day, with everyone there feeling they had learnt something of value to take home from the meeting.
You can leave your thoughts or comments at the foot of the page to generate discussion between meetings by clicking ‘Comments’ below.
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November 2nd, 2009
The first dairy monitor farm business group meeting has been changed to Thursday 17th December and will focus on how the fertility and yield figures reflect the feeding and health management of the herd.
Farm vet Victor Ouidhuis will discuss the farm’s herd health plan and Genus technical advisor John Cook will address fertility. The activities for the February and May meetings will also be planned at this meeting, so bring along your ideas.
The group will discuss ways to improve performance and then use this shared information to benefit their own businesses. To find out more, contact Cumbria Farmer Network on 01768 868 615, or to book online visit the events page.
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September 1st, 2009
A total of 62 people (41 farmers) attended the Cumbria Dairy Monitor Farm Open Day hosted by Matt and Sue Bland at Hesket Farm, Dacre.
The farmers split in to four groups and were led by a member of the dairy monitor farm steering group as they toured the farm.
There were four workshops and each group took part in discussions on:
1, Animal Health and Welfare – talks were given by Genus, DairyCo, SAC and Matt’s local vet Victor Oudhuis.
2, Nutrition – talks given by Keenan and DairyCo.
3, Nutrient Management – talks given by Promar, George Douglas (Matt’s contractor who also gave a slurry injector demonstration)
4, Utilising Grazing – talks given by DairyCo and grazing mentor Robert Craig (a farmer trained by the British Grassland Society).
All four workshops related to work being done on the farm.
The first monitor farm business group meeting on the farm is planned for TUESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER.
The topic is the HERD’S FERTILITY, with guest speakers from Promar.
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