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DairyNZ Comment:
16 Oct 2019
Farm Data
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Date Collected
16 Oct 2019
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Soil temp
16
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Growth
99 kgs DM/day
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APC
2663 kgs DM/ha
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Rainfall
65 mm
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BCS
4.8
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% in milk
100 %
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MS/cow
2.30 kgs
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MS/ha
8.50 kgs
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MS/ha YTD
740 kgs
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Rotation
21 days
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MS/cow YTD
- kgs
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Nitrogen YTD
76 kgs/ha
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Supplements
4.8 kgs/cow/day
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Supplements YTD
776 kgs/cow/day
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Weight Gain
- kgs/day
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Stocking Rate
3.9 su/ha
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Crude Protein Level
-
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MJME
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The spring has ebbed and flowed somewhat, with periods of dry and warm weather followed by cooler and wetter weather. Pasture growth has jumped around a bit in response to those fluctuations, but in general has been ahead of stock demand for some time. The next task is identifying and managing pasture surpluses early and maintaining good quality pasture. Sticking to good grazing practices is going to be the key to maximising late spring and summer milksolids production.
Now that balance date is behind us, using your feed wedge is the best way to manage your pasture. The feed wedge will show the current pasture situation by ranking the paddocks based on average pasture cover.
There’s a process to follow to get this done:
A temporary pasture surplus that is not managed well will allow ryegrass to go to seed, resulting in a drop in pasture quality. Grazing residuals will drive pasture quality and when pasture growth exceeds stock demand, we see grazing residuals lift unless action is taken to manage the surplus. It’s all about anticipation – getting it right requires weekly pasture walks and creation of feed wedges to predict feed surpluses before they happen.
Pasture growth rates have been jumping around quite a bit this spring and some feed surpluses have developed. If they are not well managed stems and seed heads will develop. This results in lower quality pastures and a drop in milk production, even though there appears to be plenty of pasture available.