Reminders for April - Department of Primary Industries

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Pastures/forages

Ryegrass leaf appearance rate	12 to 15 days per leaf (depending on soil moisture on dryland farms). 12 to 15 days per leaf for irrigated pasture.
Estimated grazing rotation length	35 to 45 days between each grazing.
Area of farm to graze today	1/35th to 1/45th of grazing area in 24 hours.
Recommended pre-grazing decisions	Following good autumn rainfall, it is important to allow pastures to grow beyond two leaves before grazing. This generates superior root mass and development; and as a result greater leaf area for photosynthesis and increased pasture growth rate.
Recommended post grazing decision	Don’t graze below 4 to 6 cm. This ensures faster growing ryegrass plants in autumn, and less soil erosion and space for weed germination.
Seasonal management tasks	Spray broadleaf weeds in new pastures once the weeds are about 3 to 5 cm in diameter (6 to 8 weeks old). Sow new pastures if needed before the end of April. Identify barley grass dominant areas and spray out with herbicide recommended for annual grasses. Then re-sow with perennial ryegrass.
Estimated soil temperature	14 to 16 degrees Celsius.
Estimated daily evaporation	4 to 6 mm per day.
Average daily pasture growth rate	15 to 25 kg DM/Ha/day on dryland farms following autumn rainfall. Those with irrigated rye grass pastures can also expect an estimated 15 to 25 kg DM/Ha/day.

Establishing and managing new pastures

Try to get pasture seed in the soil before the end of April.
If you have concerns with ryegrass staggers, then select one of the new ryegrass varieties with novel endophyte (eg AR1) which has less effect on cattle.
Grazing with young stock can be undertaken when new pasture does not pull out of the ground when pulled up by hand. Do the ‘pluck test’, ie when leaves tear off rather than roots coming out of the ground.
Ideally, the ryegrass seedlings should have three emerged leaves prior to the first grazing and ensure that stock do not overgraze.
Graze if canopy closure is beginning to occur, ie no bare ground can be seen when looking from above.
Avoid overgrazing; leave at 4 to 6 cm residual.

Feed buying plan

Dairy Australia’s Grains2Milk program advises farmers to have a feed buying plan. Having a whole year plan connected to your budget means you won’t need to buy on the spot, week to week.
Farmers should use contracts, not vague arrangements on the phone, and should understand how the grain and fodder market works.
Check out Dairy Australia’s fortnightly Grain and Hay Report at www.dairyaustralia.com.au

Cows

If possible maintain the current cows’ diet by continuing to use supplementary feeds until all pastures have reached the targeted leaf stage. To implement a long rotatation for building pasture cover may mean feeding the herd with a small portion of their diet in pasture and the remainder as fodder crop, palm kernel extract, silage, hay, pellets or grain.
If autumn calving, prepare for the start of mating by ensuring all equipment is ready. Decide which heat detection methods to use and train and allocate jobs to staff.
Make sure you have the necessary bull power!
If running autumn and spring calving cows in the same herd, tail painting spring calving cows with a different coloured paint may help by showing which cows do not need to be checked.

Heifers

Feed quality supplements to dairy heifers. Advice from InCalf suggests that heavier, well-framed heifers get in calf easier, produce more milk in their lifetime, need less help at calving and cope better with herd competition.
Use lightweight, portable troughs that can be moved from paddock to paddock to increase growth of smaller heifers. Larger grain or pellet self-feeders cost a bit more, but save a lot more labour as they don’t need refilling as often. Some can be shifted using forks while others have wheels for towing. Importantly, remember to take action to minimise the risk of acidosis with self feeders.
For larger heifers, a simple platform with metal skirting will reduce fodder wastage.

Milking management

Now is a good time to get a shed test done to make sure the milking plant is functioning properly.
Have a look at your laneways and upgrade if required (refer to article on Fish Creek crushed rock in this issue of HNGC). Clean out drains especially around culverts.

Water Issues

Clean out your effluent pond to create maximum storage capacity for the coming season’s rainfall.
Irrigate if necessary and remember the value of late irrigation.
Make a note in your diary of irrigation trouble spots that need maintenance. Farm channel maintenance, irrigation stop maintenance and pump maintenance need to be planned ready for the next irrigation season.
Start planning for any dam construction you plan to do over winter.

Forward Planning for May

Tasks for May include making a feed budget for winter, looking after new calves.
Start getting the financials in order and book a meeting with the accountant.

Department of Primary Industries