SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30 th September 2014 • Focus Day at 10am Thursday 16th October, 2014 on farm. FLYER HERE • Increase pasture intakes and reduce supplements while maintaining herd energy requirements • Ensure post-grazing residuals are 1650kgDM/ha to maintain quality into the second round. • Apply Nitrogen and Gibberellic Acid to maximise pasture growth so long as climate and soil conditions remain suited to the application recommendations. • The herds are split into lighter and younger cows (1 st calvers) so that any supplement can be fed so that ALL cows are receiving the appropriate feed plan for their BCS status and will be at their target of 4.5 BCS for mating. • Ensure calf shed feeding and hygiene procedures are followed so that calves remain as healthy as possible to maximise growth rates, targeting 100kgs liveweight at weaning. • Pre mating tail painting • 738 cows on the farm, 712 are in milk, 256 R2 heifers at grazing and 240 calves on farm. • Total Effective Ha: 295ha, Winter Crop Ha: 32ha, Area available for milkers: 259ha. • 2606 kgDM/Ha APC, 50kgDM/Ha growth rate, 42 day round length. • 11mm rain, 8.7 degrees soil temperature. • 250kg/Ha SuperPhosphate applied to 42Ha with 50kg/Ha Urea (25.4kgN/Ha) • 22.75Ha Gibberellic Acid (GA) applied. • TAD milking cows BCS 4.6, OAD milking cows BCS 4.7, dry cows BCS 5.7. • Calved cows liveweight 501 kgs. • 1000 litres of whole milk being taken from the silo for the calves. CRITICAL ISSUES FOR THE SHORT TERM KEY POINT SUMMARY [email protected]http://www.siddc.org.nz/sthld-demo-farm 0800 DEMOFARM (336632) PAGE 1 READ ON FOR MORE DETAIL ON KEY SUBJECTS
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SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
!• Focus Day at 10am Thursday 16th October, 2014 on farm. FLYER HERE • Increase pasture intakes and reduce supplements while maintaining herd energy requirements • Ensure post-grazing residuals are 1650kgDM/ha to maintain quality into the second round. • Apply Nitrogen and Gibberellic Acid to maximise pasture growth so long as climate and soil conditions
remain suited to the application recommendations. • The herds are split into lighter and younger cows (1st calvers) so that any supplement can be fed so that
ALL cows are receiving the appropriate feed plan for their BCS status and will be at their target of 4.5 BCS for mating.
• Ensure calf shed feeding and hygiene procedures are followed so that calves remain as healthy as possible to maximise growth rates, targeting 100kgs liveweight at weaning.
• Pre mating tail painting ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 738 cows on the farm, 712 are in milk, 256 R2 heifers at grazing and 240 calves on farm. • Total Effective Ha: 295ha, Winter Crop Ha: 32ha, Area available for milkers: 259ha. • 2606 kgDM/Ha APC, 50kgDM/Ha growth rate, 42 day round length. • 11mm rain, 8.7 degrees soil temperature. • 250kg/Ha SuperPhosphate applied to 42Ha with 50kg/Ha Urea (25.4kgN/Ha) • 22.75Ha Gibberellic Acid (GA) applied. • TAD milking cows BCS 4.6, OAD milking cows BCS 4.7, dry cows BCS 5.7. • Calved cows liveweight 501 kgs. • 1000 litres of whole milk being taken from the silo for the calves. !!
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
!1. Target milk production for the 14/15 season is 340,000kgMS, 450kgMS/cow or 1300kgMS/ha. !2. 680 cows milking twice a day into the vat producing an average 2.02kgMS/cow/day. This is to the
factory, around 1000 litres per day of whole milk from the main herds is being utilised by the calves. On current composition test this would be 85kgMS/day, if this was added to the milk sold, the herd is producing 2.15kgMS/cow/day. This is the figure we use for determining the cows daily energy requirements !
3. 38 colostrum, penicillin, lame and light cows milking once a day providing milk for the calves. !4. 20 cows are left to calve and are either on crop or on pasture as springing cows.
5. Season to date, milk production is 8% above target. Although daily per cow milk production has been lower than previous seasons, we have more cows in the vat this season than for the same period as last season. At the 1st october 2013, SDF had 644 cows milking into the silo. This season we have 680 cows, an increase of 5.6%. !
!6. The average pasture cover was measured at 2606 kgsDM/Ha. An increase of 30kgDM/ha on last
week. Pasture growth rates were measured to average 50kgDM/Ha/day. Although no deficit appears on the wedge we will continue to apply Nitrogen and Gibberellic Acid to generate as much pasture as possible, as long as conditions allow to help minimise the environmental effects and increase the profitability of the applications, to reduce the amount of supplements required in the second round. We also intend to harvest 1000 bales (220,000kgDM) of bale age for the wintering, this is one of the tools we use to manage any surplus that occurs from time to time during the season. !!!!!!
7. We continue to observe that with the applications of Gibberellic Acid and Nitrogen, the pasture is a lot more upright. This is having an effect of the readings recorded by the Pasture Meter versus what the cows are actually eating in the paddock. Many of the readings are showing a 3-500kgDMHa variance which is inflating the average cover as this is more noticeable with covers from about 2800kgDM/Ha and above. We are factoring this variance into all of out grazing and supplementary feed decisions and using the post grazing residuals as a more accurate guide to feeding levels. !
8. Although we have not grazed all of the first round paddocks yet (2-3 remain) the second round pasture is of sufficient pre grazing cover to warrant grazing. We will still be grazing the first round pasture over the coming week, but alternating it around the various herds. !
9. Our pre grazing cover needs to be 3200kgDM/Ha and we are targeting an average residual cover of no less than 1600KgDM, therefore our APC needs to be 2400kgDM/Ha. !
10. Below is the comparison of pasture cover for this season and the two previous seasons.
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
11. The APC is 206 kgDM above the target of 2400KgDM/Ha. As mentioned we continue to observe that the pasture is a lot more upright and is affecting the accuracy of the readings. Many of the readings are showing a 3-500kgDMHa variance which is inflating the average cover. !
!12. Growth rates averaged 50 kgsDM/Ha. This is below average (60 kgDM/ha) for this time of year. As
mentioned Nitrogen was applied this week as soil moisture and temperature conditions remain suitable for applying.
!11. Pasture grown season to date is 2351 kgsDM/Ha; this is 443kgsDM/Ha less than last season and
254kgsDM/Ha behind the 8 year average for SDF. The accumulated total DM grown/ha to date for last 3 seasons is shown below. The long term average growth per ha for SDF is 14.7 tons DM per year.
12. Although some of the pre grazing covers remain high, pasture samples taken and tested on 3rd September from paddocks 62 and 70 suggest quality remain excellent. The results of of those samples are shown below.
!13. The Spring Rotation Planner (SRP) had us finishing the first round on the 25th September. With the
pasture growth rates consistently below our long term average throughout August and September we made the decision to try to hold the first round a little longer to ensure we had enough pasture for the second round so we weren’t so heavily reliant on supplement. This decision has held back the per cow production from what we historically achieve on farm, however the expectation is that we will be able to increase it over the coming week and hold it for longer due to having pasture available for the second round. !
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
14. The previous week our targeted area to be grazed for the milking cows was 6.8Ha/day (90m2/cow/day - 40 day round) from 752 cows calved. We actually grazed 6.12Ha/day (90m2/cow/day - 42 day round) this past week. Even though the decision was made to hold the first round a little longer, we still made an error in our allocations this week and as mentioned, this had a negative impact on the per cow production. With only 718 cows calved we were behind our expected calving rate that was used in the SRP. !
15. The cows that have calved are receiving 90m2 of fresh pasture daily. Each mob receives this daily allocation split twice per day no matter the milking frequency. We are looking to continue to increase this over the coming week to get closer to the target with the SRP while still maintaining our target residuals of 1600-1700 kgDM/Ha. !
16. Milking cows are targeting 20kgDM/cow/day offered and supplement varies daily to what is needed to reach this and our desired post-grazing residual of 1650kgDM/Ha for this herd. Currently a mix of pasture silage, crushed barley and sugar beet is being used to make up the ration to that level (see above table for details).150g/cow/day of limeflour and 75g/cow/day of MgOxide are being dusted onto the pasture. !
17. Colostrum cows are targeting 16kgsDM/cow/day offered (basically ad lib for this time of year) and supplement varies daily to what is needed to reach this and our desired post-grazing residual of 1800kgDM/Ha for this herd. Currently a mix of pasture silage, PKE and crushed barley is being used to make up the ration to that level (see above table for details). 150g/cow/day of limeflour and 75g/cow/day of MgOxide are being dusted onto the pasture. !
18. Springing cows have had the remaining dry cows added to them for ease of management and are receiving 20m2 of fresh pasture with 8kgDM/cow/day of silage. The silage is 34%DM and 10.3MjME/KgDM. The silage has 60g DCP and 60g MgOxide applied. These cows are in BCS 5.5+ and have also been reduced to maintenance levels plus an allowance for pregnancy to ensure that we minimise any potential metabolic issues that may arise from being “fat”. We are ensuring that cow intakes are still being maximised to continue to develop capacity by reducing the quality of feed offered rather than just quantity on its own. !
19. Due to the emerging practice of lifting beet in the region we planted a paddock of Sugar beet last season to see for ourselves if there is any merit to it. Initially the Management Team felt that there would be some benefits to our system from growing and feeding it, we plan to confirm if we were correct this season after using it. !
20. This week 30.4 T of Sugar Beet was fed whole and unwashed to the milking cows as we continue to replace the silage in the diet with the beet. The cows remain contented eating them whole and unwashed and we have witnessed no animal health problems as a result, so at this stage we see no need to change that practice for our system. Cows are eating about 3kgDM/day of beet. !
21. HERE is a clip of the cows initial reaction and some pictures HERE of the lifted beet on the pit. !22. We will continue to monitor the cows eating this feed over the coming weeks and will continue to
feedback any results from feeding it, how the cows reacted and what , if any, benefits we see from its use. We are not expecting to do any scientific trials on its use, simply our observed results of its use and how it applies to our system. We will also cover all of the financial details as they are compiled and plan to be able to get a clearer view on this feed. !
23. Below is the feed quality analysis done on the Beet on the 3rd September. We will send Beet away for sampling every 2 weeks to see any changes in feed quality as it is stored.
!24. There are 256 R2 heifers at grazing. 25. Their liveweight at the last weighing averaged 282 kgs last week, this was an average increase of just
under 0.5 kgs liveweight/day. 26. There are 240 heifer calves currently being reared on farm. The calves that remain inside are in mobs
of 20 and get ad lib meal, lucerne and clean fresh water daily. The 100 calves that are outside receive the same.
27. There are no calves being treated for scours and any historical cases are recovering well. !!28. Nitrogen was applied as Urea at 50 kg/Ha giving a total application of Nitrogen of 23KgN/Ha with
the split fertiliser applications this week due to the ground conditions being suitable for applying Nitrogen to get a more profitable response and reducing the risk of any negative impacts on the environment.
29. This is 21kgN/Ha over the whole farm which is 10% of the annual budget total of 211kgN/Ha 30. We have been conducting whole farm testing with our fertiliser company for the past 2 seasons in an
effort to ensure we only put fertiliser where it is required. This is similar to our BCS policy of having every cow performing rather than an average of a large number. Last season we had a large range of fertility between the paddocks so we set about a plan to close the range up by using split applications. After testing again this season, that range has closed up significantly and we intend to repeat the practice this season. 42Ha of those split applications were done this week with 250kg/Ha Superphosphate and 0.5kg/Ha selenium prills.
31. We remain applying Gibberellic Acid (GA) to pasture now that suitable areas are available after grazing to meet the recommended 3-5 days application window. Click HERE for more detail
32. 22.65 Gibberellic Acid was applied this week. A total of 68.65Ha has been applied season to date. !!33. Effluent has been applied this week. The soil moisture level still remains at an acceptable range to
allow for application. This GRAPH shows the soil moisture levels and suggested application zones. !
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
!34. Our crop plan has been finalised and seed bed preparation has begun with some pre ripping of
wetter areas to speed up the drying process. !35. 20.65Ha of the crop ground will be returning to pasture. !36. 21.36Ha will be sown into Fodderbeet for wintering the MA cows as the heifers will be wintered off
next winter so we require less crop area. !37. 2 paddocks of 6.2Ha in total of Beet for lifting will be planted in 2 of our high potash effluent
paddocks. The intention is to utilise one of these paddocks for Autumn transition onto crop and for high energy supplement to extend days in milk. The other is for Spring supplement use to aid in minimising BCS loss pre mating. !
38. Click HERE for a worksheet to help plan the winter cropping on your farm. !!39. The first round of metrichecking has been done. 32 cows required treatment out of 650 cows
examined. We will continue to ensure our calving records remain up to date and accurate so that all of the cows can be submitted for examination as the calve so we don’t miss the tail enders. !
40. It is recommended to at least check all at-risk cows. These include;• Been induced • Had a difficult calving • Had twins • Had milk fever
• Had retained foetal membranes
• Had a dead calf at or within 24 hours of calving
• A vulvar discharge diagnosed greater than 7 days after calving
!!41. All recently calved cows are monitored closely for metabolic issues; the colostrum herd is checked as
regularly as the calving mob. All staff are trained to administer basic treatments to minimise acute cases developing. Senior staff are trained to treat any acute cases that may develop. !
42. Freshly calved cows are being milked OAD for the duration of the colostrum period primarily to reduce the workload on staff and help with reducing the BCS loss post calving. All staff are aware of the need to manage mastitis more closely and all cows are stripped prior to being milked every day. There doesn’t appear to be any increase in mastitis due to the OAD of the colostrum’s. We also accept that there may be some milk production sacrificed however this is balanced up with the benefits we see on farm. !
43. Any cows nearing 4 BCS go onto OAD and are preferentially fed to ensure they reach BCS 4.5 by PSM. This is our year round policy to manage BCS for all cows. !
44. Another whole herd BCS was completed. We are still targeting all cows to be at BCS 4.5 by the planned start of mating (PSM) and the graph suggests that the herd is on target with only 8% of the herd not at BCS 4.5. We will continue to feed the cows to ensure that all cows meet the target. !!!
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
45. The average BCS of all cows milking twice a day was 4.6, with 7% not at BCS 4.5. The on farm team are very vigilant with drafting off cows not at BCS 4 and placing them in the OAD herd, to only have 5 cows out of over 700 scored remaining in the TAD herd is a pleasing result for the team. The 5 cows under BCS 4 that were scored by the independent assessor have now been drafted to OAD.
!46. The OAD herd average BCS was 4.7 with 18% of this herd under BCS 4.5. With no cows in this herd
under BCS 4 it shows that any cows identified under BCS 4 in the TAD herds and drafted to OAD very quickly recover.
47. The last remaining dry cows BCS was 5.7. [email protected] http://www.siddc.org.nz/sthld-demo-farm 0800 DEMOFARM (336632) PAGE �9
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
!48. Soil temperatures at 9 am have averaged 8.7 this week, below average for this time of year. !49. The graph below shows how the average weekly 9am (10cm) soil temperature is tracking
throughout the season and compares against the last two seasons. !
!50. The graph below shows the weekly rainfall and accumulated total for the season. 287mm season to
SDF Farm Walk Notes Tuesday, 30th September 2014 !
!52. The staff had a full team meeting this week and no health and safety issues were raised. !53. A reminder was given to all of the team about the importance of high visibility gear to be worn at all
times. !54. Staff hours were on target and the team continued rostered late starts (8am) this week. The person
on the late start still remained on call should any emergencies come up during calving. !!55. Budgeted FWE $1,438,743 - $4.02/kgMS !!!The next management meeting will be on Tuesday, 7th October @ 10 am. On behalf of the Management Group Barry Bethune (Farm Manager), Stacy McNaught (Business Manager), Nathan Nelson (DairyNZ Consulting Officer), Howard de Klerk (Consultant)
