Milking the Weather - September 2010 Edition
Portfolio approach to feeding
Seasonal conditions will impact on the growth, conservation and purchasing of feed for a dairy herd. Just like a portfolio of investments can be used to help manage financial security, a portfolio of feeds can be used to help manage seasonal feed risk. There are multiple options for filling the herd feed requirements (see diagram below).
If seasonal conditions were anticipated to cause a reduction in feed supplied by the pasture base (such as prolonged water logging), other parts of the feed portfolio would need to be increased to meet herd requirements. Alternatively, good seasonal conditions may provide an opportunity to reduce the tonnage of feed in the non-pasture parts of the herds feed portfolio.
Reducing purchased feed
The purchased feed component of a feed portfolio is generally more expensive than the home-grown component. Farmers are always looking for opportunities to feed their herd well whilst keeping costs in check.
On many farms, there may be opportunities to increase the contribution of pasture in your feed portfolio this spring.
Soil moisture is favourable and there are favourable climatic conditions in the spring rainfall outlook. So, given a good start to spring this could be the year to take advantage of pasture growing conditions, and reduce the amount of feed in the purchased part of your portfolio.
For other dairy farmers, this could be the year to focus on quality of conserved feed, instead of going for quantity.
Making high quality silage is essential for milk production, so the benefit will be seen in the vat. Cutting before seed heads emerge is a key strategy (four to six week lockup). This will give lower yields per hectare of silage or hay. However, for perennial pastures, you will get more total growth for the season as pasture regrowth is higher after a short lockup.
Others may be interested in both quality and quantity as they attempt to build fodder reserves as part of a risk management strategy.
To be successful, the cost of harvest and storage (including storage losses), needs to be lower than the price of purchased feed of a similar quality at the time the fodder reserves are fed. Pit silage can store for many years provided it is well made and air is excluded. If you are able to set the silage aside until a high fodder price year, it may be a good option. If you are likely to have high losses, or end up feeding it back in a low purchase price year, it may be better not to build silage reserves. For more information—http://www.afia.org.au/information/technical_notes/
Offsetting grain price risk
Farmers may wish to offset some of the risk of a grain price rise. This could be through forward purchasing some of the grain needs. For more information go to http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Farm/Feeding-cows/Bought-in-feeds.aspx
Alternatively, fodder crops may be grown to fill part of the summer feed requirements.
There are risks associated with both options. Grain price may fall or your crop may fail (making it more expensive than purchasing feed). These risks need to be factored in when making your decision.
Fodder cropping
Fodder cropping is generally a more opportunistic part of the feed portfolio and is best used in conjunction with a pasture renovation program. The improved yield from the renovated pasture is an important part of the economic benefit from cropping.
The risk of crop failure needs to be assessed for each situation. What will the cost of the crop be? What yield will I need to achieve to make cropping worthwhile? A partial budget is worth doing to answer these questions.
For example, the cost of sowing a summer crop then re-sowing to pasture next autumn could cost approximately $700/ha. On top of this, some pasture growth will be forgone, but there will be an increased yield potential from the new sown pasture.
It will be important to achieve a good crop yield. This means sowing at an optimum time for the crop. In rain fed districts, this means sowing when there are still two – three months of good growing conditions likely. For example, where paddock conditions are suitable, consider a September sowing of turnips to obtain a good yield of a feed that is a good replacement for grain (~12.5 ME) over December/January.
Later sowings will require species suited to hotter temperatures. Pests that feed on brassicas become active in summer, making late sowings of this species more risky. Summer grasses tend to be of moderate quality, making them a good substitute for silage or hay, but not such a good substitute for grain/concentrates.
There are many summer cropping options including summer grasses such as millet and sorghum hybrids, or for cooler regions, brassicas, herbs and legumes. Discuss your options with someone who can provide good advice on which crops will reliably provide the quality feed you require at the time you need it. Gather and assess your information now so you don’t miss the ideal planting date.
Most farms will have enough water to finish off their annual crops and pastures, and depending on what the final allocations are, there may be enough water to start up all their annuals next autumn. Depending on final allocations and water entitlements, some farmers may end up with a surplus of water for their current farming system of all winter annuals.
This will leave them with a number of options that haven’t presented themselves over the past few years.
Some of these options will be to:
- carry the surplus water over to next year;
- trade the surplus water, which could be used for a range of things such as cash flow, grain purchases, debt reduction; and/or
- use the water to grow summer crops.
Over the years it has been proven that the best response to water has been on crops and pastures in spring that are in good condition, followed by crops and pastures in autumn. For most farmers this will be their first preference of where to use their water.
If water is still left over after meeting spring and autumn requirements, and any perennial pasture water needs are met, then it comes time to work out what to do with the remaining water.
With the recent changes to carryover rules, carrying over water is less risky in terms of losing the water. However, it does carry some risk as extra costs will be incurred to store the water, in addition to the five per cent lost through evaporation as well as seepage. Carry over water could be a handy insurance policy if low water allocations present themselves next year, posing the question; has the drought really broken?
It will be possible to trade the surplus water on the temporary market, but generally the market for temporary water is set by supply and demand, so the price received may be low. For some, this could still be a good option to sure up cash flow.
Another option would be to use water surplus from autumn, spring and perennial demands to grow a summer crop such as millet or sorghum. This option could help get run-down paddocks ready for re-sowing in autumn, and provide a grazing option during the summer. Good advice should be sought before attempting to grow a summer a crop if you haven’t grown them before. If they have poor yields this option can end up being expensive. This year locusts could cause poor yields of summer crops in some districts. For further information visit http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/locusts or call the hotline on 136 186.
In summary:
A feed portfolio approach can help with decision making, together with a variety of climate indicators from the BOM. Assess the need for feed over summer. This can be filled with conserved feed, direct grazed feed or purchased feed. Each has its associated pluses and minuses. Each farmer will have a different attitude to what makes the best feed portfolio.
The weighting of feed types in a portfolio of feeds will change over time.
