GippsDairy Focus Farms
Reminders for June 2010 issue of How Now Gippy Cow
Pastures/forages
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Ryegrass leaf appearance rate |
14-20 days per leaf (depending on soil moisture on dryland farms). |
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Estimated grazing rotation length |
40 to 55 days between each grazing. |
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Area of farm to graze today |
1/40 to 1/55 of grazing area in 24 hours. |
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Recommended pre-grazing decisions |
Following good autumn rainfall it is important to allow pastures to grow to the three leaf stage before grazing, this generates greater leaf area for photosynthesis and increases pasture growth rate. Lengthen the grazing rotation as temperatures get colder while maintaining the cows’ total feed intake through the feeding of more supplements |
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Recommended post grazing decision |
Ensure cows leave 4 to 6 cm of residual pasture between the clumps. This will ensure a stronger ryegrass regrowth in the winter, less soil erosion and less space for weed germination. |
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Seasonal management tasks |
Start thinking about the possibility of a wet winter |
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Estimated soil temperature |
8 – 12 degrees Celsius |
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Estimated daily evaporation |
2 to 4 mm per day without rainfall |
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Average daily pasture growth rate |
9 to 15 kg DM/Ha/day on dryland farms following autumn rainfall. Those with irrigated rye grass pastures can also expect an estimated 9 – 15 kg DM/Ha/day. |
Calving
- Have the calving paddocks sheltered and select a well-drained soil type area for calving paddocks and calf rearing.
- A calving shed is useful, but not essential. Try to keep calving areas clean. This will reduce the incidence of mastitis as well as certain types of scours in calves. Rotate the area used from year to year.
- Best immunity occurs where colostrum is fed in the first six hours. All calves should be topped up with two litres of top quality colostrum by teat or oesophageal feeder when removed from the calving pad or paddock. If calves have not sucked, they should be fed 4 litres of top quality colostrum by teat or oesophageal feeder.
- Consult your nutrition advisor and plan your transition diet for calving cows. The aims are to prevent milk fever, ensure the cow's energy requirements are met, and introduce grain to the diet if a high level of grain is being fed in the milking herd. A properly formulated lead feed ration or the use of ionic salts in the water troughs should be considered. Even a low level of milk fever in the herd has many flow-on effects including calf losses during calving and cow health issues in early lactation.
Cows
- Although mastitis can be managed in many dairy cows, some don’t respond to treatment leaving culling as the only option. Removing cows with chronic infections reduces the bacterial challenge to other clean cows and helps to protect the healthy, young cows that are the future of the herd.
- That’s why culling cows, particularly older ones with persistent infections, is a key strategy for mastitis control. Countdown Downunder strongly recommends that dairy farmers cull any cow that has had more than three clinical cases in a lactation; and cows with high cell counts (>250,000) in two consecutive lactations - despite being given antibiotic dry cow treatment in between.
- A small number of high cell count cows can have a significant effect on Bulk Milk Cell Count level and milk quality payments. A decision to cull these cows should be also based on economics. Consider the loss of net milk yield versus gain in milk quality payment (BMCC premium) and the risk that these infected cows present to the rest of the herd. Herd testing can identify cows with high cell counts and assist with decision making.
Heifers
- Getting a specialist to rear heifers under contract can take the pressure off dairy farming and ensure future milkers are well grown and an asset to the business.
- InCalf advises that a good contract rearing arrangement means everyone involved is clear about their expectations, responsibilities and the terms of payment.
- A contract will often detail rearing expectations such as feeding regimes, target weights, health management, when to wean, vaccinations, dehorning and even joining requirements over the contract period as well as specifying what records need to be kept.
- The payment schedule needs to be set out in the contract and should include a clause outlining what happens if the contract obligations are not observed by either party.For more information and a sample heifer rearing contract, contact InCalf on 9620 7283 or visit www.incalf.com.au.
Milk harvesting
- Take the time to get your dairy shed in order before the season gets busy again.
Financial issues
- Organise your records of expenditure and income to prepare a cash flow budget for next financial year using next seasons expected milk prices.
- Start getting your financial records organised in preparation for doing your tax return. This can also help if preparing an analysis of how the farm performed over the year.
- Look at your expected cash situation at the end of the financial year, if it is a good surplus then seek some advice from your accountant as to how to best use it. Be careful not to use the cash surpluses on non productive expenditures that could cost you more in the future.
Forward Planning for July
- Tasks for July include maintenance on irrigation channels, cleaning drains and preparing calf sheds ready for the next batch of cows.
