February 2010 edition
Monthly Reminders – February
Pastures
- Estimated grazing rotation length - 30 to 40 days between each grazing. Excessive daytime temperatures and dry conditions will suppress rye grass growth rates and leaf size, while very dry conditions may shut the plant down all together.
- If pastures have dried off and growth rates are near zero, consider setting up a sacrifice feeding system or stock containment area for feeding the herd. Allowing perennial ryegrass plants to be grazed below 5cm will severely reduce their ability to persist into the autumn
- Many annual pastures will need renovating in the coming months. There are a number of forages which may have a place on your farm. Cereals can provide ‘early feed’ and have a lower risk of failure when sown early compared to ryegrass. Adding 1-2kg of brassica to Italian ryegrass is a cheap way to improve early autumn yields without effecting the spring production.
- Be sure to match your pasture seeds to your paddocks. That is the drier, early finishing paddocks will be more suited to a true annual variety whereas low lying river flats tend to ‘hang on’ longer into spring/summer. Longer season Italian and hybrid varieties have the potential to grow large amounts of feed over these later months which will more than outweigh the extra cost of the seed.
Cows
- Manage heat stress for your dairy herd, select a shady paddock on hot days, install sprinklers over the yard and maintain a plentiful supply of clean stock drinking water.
- Even dry cows require at least 40 litres per day of water and even more during periods of hot weather. Lactating cows will require an additional four to five litres of water for every litre of milk produced above that required by dry cows.
- Dry off is a key time of the year to control milk quality for the following lactation. Ensure your cows are dried off following the procedure outlined in the countdown downunder manual which can be found at: www.countdown.org.au/pdf/Guidelines.pdf.
Young Stock
- Check your calves and heifers twice a week for signs of pink eye. Early treatment and the use of eye patches will increase the likelihood of a full recovery of the eye.
- Weight young stock regularly to monitor their progress toward their target calving weights.
Water Issues
- Continue to check water supply dams for signs of blue green algae. If present, avoid using the water, prevent stock access and get the algae identified.
- Assess your current water storage quantities and water needs to determine if you have sufficient to get through to next winter.
- The Dairy Shed Water License Transition Program amnesty ends on February 26, 2010. Therefore, if you need to apply for or update dairy shed water licenses, contact Goulburn-Murray Water.
Dairy Plant
- Check if your milking machine liners need replacing. CountDown DownUnder recommends they should be replaced after 2,500 cow milkings. It is a good opportunity while the cows are out.
Fertilisers
- Study last spring’s soil test results, consult your fertiliser representative and make an informed decision on this year’s fertiliser application. Most farms have mined some potassium and phosphorus over the last year when they were expensive and milk price was low.
- Save money and time, avoid spreading fertiliser unnecessarily on high nutrient sites such as cattle camps, around water troughs and gateways. These areas are likely to already have adequate soil nutrients for pasture growth.
- If you have already applied dairy effluent to your paddocks, then soil test these paddocks so you can tailor the fertiliser application to these areas.
