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Dairy notes Aug 04

Keeping Spring Calving Cows Milking

A 7,000 litre dairy cow that calved in January should still be producing 17 litres daily in August. To do this she needs a dry matter intake of 14kg per day. If enough quality grass is available, grazing will maintain this level of production.
When grass is in short supply supplementation will be required.
If adequate good quality, high dry matter silage is available, feeding 2 to 3 kilos of silage dry matter will replace an equivalent amount of grass.
Later calving or higher yielding cows have a higher demand than can be supplied by grass alone. One kilo of concentrate should provide enough energy to produce 2 litres of milk. This cow yielding 23 litres requires 3 kilos of concentrate.

Summer Mastitis in Heifers

This can be a problem among in-calf heifers and often leads to the loss of the affected quarter.
Can you avoid grazing heifers in fly infested areas? Long grass, trees and thick hedges are ideal breeding grounds for flies. It is best to manage grass to avoid high covers and use an electric fence to keep stock away from thick hedges.
It is important to check heifers frequently. Look out for animals that stand away from the rest of the group - they may be affected. At Greenmount Campus, heifers are checked twice a day, and injuries to teats are treated immediately (surgical tape) to reduce any attraction to flies.
Preventative measures include:
  • Spraying of a fly repellant, which gives two weeks protection;
  • Pouring on ready to use insecticides to the backs of animals gives protection for four to eight weeks;
  • Regular treatment with Stockholm tar and other udder ointments;
  • Fly tags and tapes that control flies up to four months are useful if handling or labour are limited.

Benchmarking the Dairy Business

Farmers who are planning for a future in dairying need to be competitive and need to review their performance against farms with a similar system.
Nearly 300 farmers have used the Greenmount Campus Benchmarking System each year for the past four years. By using it they can:
  • Establish their own performance;
  • Compare their performance to others with similar systems;
  • Identify areas for improvement.
To ensure the viability of your business post Mid-Term Review, it is best to use benchmarking to establish current strengths and weaknesses and use this as a basis for forward planning.
Benchmarking for the year 2003/04 is now taking place. It is possible to benchmark both the heifer rearing and the dairy cow enterprises. Contact your local DARD Dairying Development Adviser.

Modifying Cubicles

An uncomfortable cubicle reduces profitability. The next two months provide an opportunity to assess and modify your cubicles.
Size cubicles to accommodate the largest cows in your herd. Suggested cubicle dimensions for a 600kg cow are given below.
Width (Clear)

Stall Length

Neck Rail Height

Brisket Board from Kerb
 

Side Lunge

Forward Lunge

    

1100-1180mm

2130 mm

2440 mm

1050 mm

1680 mm

The bed should slope (100mm) from front to back and the kerb depth should be between150mm and 200mm.

Trials show that cow lying time increases with the softness of the bed:
Concrete 7 Hours
Hard Rubber Mat â
Deeper Soft Rubber Mat
Mattresses 14 Hours
The cost per cubicle space for "space sharing" divisions and mats is approximately £120. Supply industry sources estimate a three year payback on initial capital outlay due to improved profitability.

Reseeding

Whilst ploughing followed by cultivation is the most common method of reseeding, minimal cultivation and stitching-in techniques have become more popular in recent years. These systems reduce cost and have been used successfully on many local farms.
Minimal Cultivation
  • Following hard grazing or silage cutting, the regrowth should be sprayed with a glyphosate based herbicide, at least 5-7 days before cultivating.
  • Prepare a shallow tilth by power harrowing prior to broadcasting or drilling the seed. Rolling afterwards is recommended.
Stitching – In
  • Specialist drills are used to sow grass and clover seeds into existing swards. This technique can be used to improve the botanical composition of swards which still have a significant proportion of sown grasses, with minimal amounts of scutch or bent grass. It is particularly suitable for bare open swards and in situations where preparation of a conventional seedbed is difficult.
  • Following hard grazing or silage cutting, spray with 2.75 litres per hectare of Paraquat, three to four days before sowing. This suppresses competition from the existing sward without killing it outright.
  • If aiming to establish clover rich swards, slug pellets should be spread when the clover seeds are emerging.
All reseeds should be watched carefully for signs of pest damage, such as frit fly and leatherjackets. Insecticides containing chlorpyrifos control these pests.
Reseed Mixtures
  • Use only varieties from the DARD Recommended lists.
  • For silage swards the choice of variety will be largely influenced by cutting date.
  • Avoid using varieties with a wide range of heading dates in the same mixture.
  • Grasses with an erect growth habit such as Spelga should normally comprise at least 50% of the mixture with the remainder being varieties which form a good dense sward such as Gilford or Aberdart, in order to improve persistency. Where high yields of early cut silage are required, hybrid ryegrass varieties could be included.
  • For grazing, choose mainly, intermediate and late heading varieties which will give a dense prostrate growing sward, such as Aberdat, Marilyn and Gilford. Early growing varieties could be used to provide early grazing on dry ground.
  • Tetraploid varieties should normally comprise up to 30% of the mixture. They improve palatability and yield but give a more open sward which is less persistent, particularly in heavy ground.
  • Clover is a valuable component of most mixtures. Timothy may be included on heavy land.
All mixtures should be kept simple, including not more than three or four varieties. Grass seed costs are only a small part of total reseeding costs and are relatively insignificant when spread over the life of the sward. Therefore it is more important to choose the best seeds mixture for your purpose rather than the cheapest one.

Greenmount Campus Up-date

The Premium Milk and High Forage cows are yielding on average 26.3 kg/cow per day with concentrate feeding levels currently averaging 3.5 and 3.0kg/day.

Wholecrop wheat

The dry matter content of the standing crop at Greenmount Campus was 41% on 21 July, and maturing at 1% per day. The target dry matter for fermented wholecrop wheat is 45-55% dry matter. Higher dry matters lead to an increased risk of poorly digested grains passing through the cow. The Greenmount Campus crop should be ensiled during the last week in July.

Fertility monitor with late calving forage cows

To check whether late-calving cows from the High Forage Herd are being mated by the Aberdeen Angus sweeper bulls, the bull’s brisket is being painted on a daily basis with brightly coloured paint. Two sweeper bulls are being run with the herds on alternate days. Any cows served are thus clearly identified, taking the guesswork out of deciding whether any veterinary treatments are necessary for cows not positively diagnosed in calf.
DARD Farm Management Notes for August 2004 have been prepared by Greenmount Campus, College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise - Tel: 028 9442 6771. For further information contact your local DARD Development Adviser.