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DairyNZ Comment:
14 Apr 2021
Farm Data
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Date Collected
14 Apr 2021
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Soil temp
17.0
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Growth
66 kgs DM/day
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APC
2381 kgs DM/ha
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Rainfall
45 mm
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BCS
4.3
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% in milk
93 %
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MS/cow
1.15 kgs
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MS/ha
3.50 kgs
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MS/ha YTD
1809 kgs
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Rotation
28 days
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MS/cow YTD
- kgs
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Nitrogen YTD
124 kgs/ha
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Supplements
5.0 kgs/cow/day
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Supplements YTD
1560 kgs/cow
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Weight Gain
- kgs/day
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Stocking Rate
3.5 su/ha
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Crude Protein Level
-
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MJME
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Every autumn it’s the same dilemma – “how much longer do I milk on for?”, or “is it economic to use supplements to extend the lactation?”. There’s some key rules that should be adhered to if you’re going to make it work economically and not compromise next season.
To work out the return for feeding supplement on your farm check out Milksolids response to supplements - DairyNZ. There’s a few things that need to be met if it is going to work profitably:
A rule of thumb is paying no more than 5% of payout/kgDM (or 3.5% if using the allowance for other costs associated with feeding the supplement). At a $7.30/kgMS payout this equates to $260-360/tonne delivered.
Behind calving rate, BCS at calving is the most critical factor if we are seeking to maximise reproductive performance. The impact of not achieving BCS targets can last several seasons due to the impact of lower BCS on submission and conception rates, and ultimately calving rate the following spring. Remember that no BCS is gained in the first 10 days after drying off and the last month of pregnancy.
A feed budget is important to determine the pasture cover targets from now until calving and to base drying off decisions on. We can only look at continuing milking through use of supplements if we have enough autumn pasture built up to feed with the supplement and where target pasture cover for calving can be achieved.
Supplement wastage is another important consideration. Wastage starts in storage and occurs at every step through to the cows actually consuming it. Up to 40% wastage can occur in storage, 50% through feeding out in the paddock and 25% when using feeding bins.
Supplements can be used to profitably extend the lactation, but there are important caveats that need to be considered. First and foremost, and probably most importantly, any extra days in milk must not be at the expense of either pasture cover or BCS at calving. Tick those off and source a suitable energy supplement at the right price and it may just work!