Autumn/Winter Feed Budget

Have a plan for the rest of the season - do an Autumn/Winter Feed Budget.

Having a plan is essential to make the best decisions this autumn and winter. To do this you firstly need to start with estimating what the feed supply and demand will be from now to calving. It is not possible to estimate pasture grown to 99% accuracy but it is possible to make good decisions based on estimates of growth as it will rain this autumn. Without a plan there is no frame work to make decisions on.

Use the one page feed budget to formulate your plan and make decisions on:

When to dry off
The amount of feed required to meet body condition score and feed cover targets at calving
Do a sensitivity to pasture grown +/- 20%

To get the best value from the feedplan break down the feed budget to weekly/10 day targets and monitor actual to target and make adjustments.

Autumn/Winter Feed Budget Templates

Autumm/Winter Feed Budget View Excel (113kb)
Working Backwards - From Average Pasture Cover Required at Calving
View PDF (51kb)
Spring or Autumn or Split Calving - From March to Start of Calving or Balance Date
View Word Doc (275kb) I View Excel 97-2003 (46kb) I View Excel 2007 (25kb)
Quick Feed Budget - Holding Rotation to Increase Pasture Cover View Word Doc (222kb)

If you need help creating your own Autumn/Winter Feed Budget, contact your Local Consulting Officer or call the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service: 0800 4 DAIRYNZ (0800 4 324 7969).