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DairyNZ Comment:
11 Oct 2019
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Farm Data
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Date Collected
11 Oct 2019
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Soil temp
15
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Growth
64 kgs DM/day
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APC
2232 kgs DM/ha
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Rainfall
18 mm
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BCS
4.5
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% in milk
99 %
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MS/cow
2.08 kgs
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MS/ha
5.64 kgs
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MS/ha YTD
428 kgs
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Rotation
23 days
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MS/cow YTD
154 kgs
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Nitrogen YTD
49 kgs/ha
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Supplements
0.2 kgs/cow/day
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Supplements YTD
111 kgs/cow/day
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Weight Gain
- kgs/day
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Stocking Rate
2.75 su/ha
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Crude Protein Level
-
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MJME
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Mild temperatures, warm rain and sunshine have seen excellent pasture growth over the last week and similar conditions are forecast for this week. Most farms will have surplus pasture. Historical milk collection data has shown milk production declines by about 4% weekly from peak with 28% decline from peak to December 31. This is predominantly due to declining pasture quality. However, production on some farms declines more slowly due to better maintenance of pasture quality.
High production from pasture is maintained by having residuals about 15 – 1,600 kg DM/ha so regrowth is high quality feed that does not contain decaying leaves.
Knowing the pre grazing cover needed to get a residual of 15-1,600 kg DM/ha is important. Paddocks that exceed the target pre grazing cover can be dropped out for silage. Pre-grazing target cover can be calculated using this formula:
(Stocking rate x pasture intake x rotation length) + optimum residual = pre-grazing cover.
Take time to monitor pre grazing covers over the next two months to be rewarded with production at low cost and dollars in the bank.