Gippsland - How Now Gippy Cow
October 2010 Edition
GippsDairy Focus Farms
News and Views from the Focus Farms at Willowgrove and Foster.
Willowgrove Focus Farm
Among the issues discussed recently were the budget review, silage from off farm, and herd mating.
Mick and Paula Hughes, their Support Group and Facilitator Jeff Urie reviewed the first update of the 2010-11 cash flow budget. The bottom line had improved by around $3000. However the budget was prepared on a worst case basis and showed a shortfall of around $31,000 that they need to make up.
Mick was offered some standing silage and so the pros and cons of taking up this offer were discussed. The original budget allowed for the purchase of 200tDM(Dry Matter) hay off farm. Some of this could be offset with extra grain if the price is comparable. An improved pasture consumption of 0.5tDM on the turnout block could replace around 30tDM.
The alternatives to standing silage were Triticale @ $275/t., Lucerne Hay @ $180/t. and Cereal hay @ $160/t.
The group felt standing silage within a 10km radius would cost $133/tDM to conserve and cart back home. Therefore a purchase price of $60/tDM for standing silage would equate to about the same price as lucerne hay landed at home. (From FeedTest Laboratory records, analysis of pasture silage is on average 46%DM. The range is 22-75% DM).
For an average silage crop this equates to $150/ha. The group felt most people would want significantly more than this as they are still influenced by the record prices of $80 to $100/roll a few years ago. Other factors to consider were the quality of the pasture and the accessibility of the paddock.
Their decision was - only proceed with the purchase of standing silage if it can be purchased at $60/tDM or a maximum of $150/ha.
Joining the herd and the factors that may influence the success of joining this season was also discussed. The Support Group felt that concentrating on the basics was very important and that remedies such as CIDRS etc were questionable.
The basics considered were:
- All cows calved at least 30 days before mating start date. This has already been achieved.
- Cows in reasonable condition (4.5 condition score or better) but most importantly not dropping in condition. Already achieved.
- A rising feeding level during joining. Should be achievable.
- Heat detection. Save all efforts until the start of mating and use aids such as Tail Paint etc.
- Bulls - make sure they are sufficiently healthy, fertile, and have been vaccinated. Aim at around 1 bull per 20-30 potentially empty cows. Rotate the bulls in groups with individuals only in the herd for a maximum of two days at a time. Looking back it was important to consider bull feeding levels 90 days prior to use.
Their decision was - given that most of the mating basics are already in place Mick and Paula should focus on getting the BULL POWER and its management as good as possible.
Foster Focus Farm
Much of South Gippsland and parts of West Gippsland have been like that Theme Park this year. It’s been 'Wet N Wild", however not much fun!
Kevin and Helen Jones and their family at the Foster Focus Farm, have had their farm system really tested. It has also been a real challenge for the Support Group members and Facilitator John Mulvany.
The grazing rotation had been 34-35 days during the very wet period, which coincided with calving. Around mid-September it was planned to come back to a 25 day rotation, obviously still trying to stay off the really wet paddocks for as long as possible.
Their aim is to start pulling silage paddocks out mid to late October, then expecting to wait until well into November before cutting. They were ready to start applying blended fertiliser from mid–September. Some paddocks had not received any nitrogen following the two previous grazings and were showing the signs of deficiency ie, pale green colour and significant lack of growth. It became a process of selecting paddocks or parts of paddocks as they dried out.
Fortunately only one paddock has been "demolished". This paddock is on the new farm and was used as a sacrifice area for dry cows. It had been previously recognised as a paddock needing renovation. When it dries out it will go into a summer crop, then sown to permanent pasture in autumn next year.
Smudging will repair most of the treading damage in paddocks, while in some paddocks with greater hoof damage, smudging followed by rolling will be used..
Kevin considers it’s a matter of getting the timing right for that repair work with the aim of avoiding the need for oversowing.
The farm has 40ha of fixed sprinkler irrigation. Interestingly these irrigated areas were not as wet or damaged as other "dryland" paddocks on the farm which became much wetter. The irrigation country is mainly river silt and the water drains off well.
As calving progressed the bail feeding rate went up to 8kg/cow plus additives. Because joining starts in early October and they want to take paddocks out for silage it's planned to continue feeding grain at that rate for some time yet. In previous years they have fed 8-9kg/cow for short periods and are comfortable with that feed rate in spring.
There has been great concern with an unusually high cell count problem at times since calving started this year. There is strong evidence that it coincides with changes in weather conditions. When there were fine days and a little drying, the cell count went significantly down, when wet cold weather returned and the animals became more stressed, the cell count went up.
Milk samples sent away for testing, failed to show anything when cultured.
Kevin and Helen decided to cancel their September herd testing believing it was a bad time to be making herd decisions including culling.
For more information about the Focus Farm project contact: John Gallienne Mob 0407 863 493.
