Gippsland - How Now Gippy Now - August 2010 Edition
Reminders for August
Pastures/forages
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Ryegrass leaf appearance rate |
15 days per leaf and decreasing by the end of the month. |
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Estimated grazing rotation length |
45 days between each grazing. |
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Area of farm to graze today |
1/45th of grazing area in 24 hours. |
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Recommended pre-grazing decisions for all stock |
Check that ryegrass pastures are at the three-leaf stage between the clumps. If less than three leaves, lengthen the grazing rotation but if tillers have more than three leaves, shorten the rotation. |
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Recommended post grazing decision for milkers and young stock |
To maximise pasture production, do not graze pastures lower than 5 cm between the clumps when the cows leave the paddock. If post graze residual is above 5 cm between the clumps, then reduce supplementary feeding by 1 kg. However, if the herd is grazing below 5 cm add in 1 kg of supplement. |
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Seasonal management tasks |
It’s about your last chance to control capeweed and other broadleaf weeds in new pastures before they shade out desirable pasture species and affect quality. Maintenance on drains would be useful in wet paddocks. |
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Estimated soil temperature |
7 – 8 degrees Celsius. |
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Estimated daily evaporation |
2 to 3 mm per day without rainfall. |
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Average daily pasture growth rate |
15 to 20 kg DM/Ha/day across Gippsland. If all your pastures are short and your average cover across the farm is low then daily growth rate could be much lower. Improved pasture with good nutrient supply will have higher growth. |
Calves
- Calves being reared need milk or milk replacer once per day plus free access to concentrates, water and good quality straw. The fibre in the straw helps in the early development of calves’ rumens thus allowing for early weaning.
- Jersey calves should be at least 75 kg liveweight and Freisian calves 100 kg at weaning. Calves should be eating at least 1 kg of concentrates plus straw prior to weaning off milk.
- In the event of an outbreak of scours, isolate the affected animals to prevent the problem spreading through the rest of the group and treat the affected animals with electrolytes as directed by your vet.
Heifers
- Yearling heifers will require good quality hay plus quality pasture to maintain a minimum of 0.6 kg daily liveweight gain during August and to have them cycling ready for mating at 15 months of age.
- It is important to have a vet check on the bulls you intend to run with your heifers, some bulls may be infertile while others have hoof and structural problems which prevent successful mating.
Cows
- Muddy tracks and sharp pebbles may be causing foot problems in the dairy herd, particularly young cows with softer hooves. Walking through a foot-bath or mat as the cows leave the dairy, or using feed additives, may help. Check with your vet for advice.
- Track maintenance, improving drainage, reducing muddy areas and using a soft crumbling rock on tracks will reduce hoof problems in the long term.
- Other causes of hoof damage are pushing the cows along laneways too fast (let them move at their own pace). Avoiding steep grades on tracks or sharp turns on the exit race.
- Reducing the number of small stones being carried into the concrete yard area will greatly reduce your herds hoof wear and damage. This can be achieved by using sand, sawdust, mulch or old carpet on the approaching laneway. Be aware that some sands can be abrasive.
- Construction of a footbath at the yard entry to wash stones off the feet may work, but needs to be cleaned out after each milking.
Environment
- August is tree planting time! So spray tree site spots and get tubed trees into the ground.
- Fence off any areas that are planted with native trees or direct drilled to prevent damage by stock or pests.
Nitrogen Fertiliser Use
- Responses of between 10 to 15 kg DM/kg of nitrogen can be expected on the more responsive pastures e.g. north facing, ryegrass dominant and good soil fertility paddocks.
- Nitrogen can be applied straight after grazing or if before grazing only one to two days before. Avoid grazing paddocks where nitrogen has been applied more than five days before due to increased risk of high nitrate levels in the pasture.
- Apply nitrogen fertiliser at a rate between 30 to 60 kg N/ha (65 to 130 kg urea/ha).
- Where possible allow at least 21 days before grazing after application. In winter, best responses occur six to eight weeks after being applied.
- Nitrogen increases the size of the ryegrass leaves grown, but not the rate at which the leaves will be produced. So still try to graze the ryegrass where possible between 2.5 to 3 leaf stage or at canopy closure.
Irrigation
- Undertake maintenance on the centre pivot or spray irrigation system and be ready if rainfall eases.
- Keep a close watch on soil moisture and irrigate if required (especially spray systems) as early irrigations can improve pasture production for the next three months.
- Drainage is important to get pastures growing early in spring.
- Ensure all channels are clean to allow free movement of water.
- If you get a few dry days, it is a good opportunity to empty the irrigation water re-use dam onto a dry well draining paddock. This will allow storage capacity in the re-use system to capture water and nutrient run-off when spring rainfall events occur.
Financial issues
- Getting an income prediction for the dairy farm based on last year’s milk production, and using this financial years announced milk prices will allow you to see how the costs from last year match up to changes in income. This could then form the basis of whether any changes are needed.
Forward planning for September
- Start planning your summer fodder cropping program to take advantage of spring soil moisture.
