Feeding likely to remain routine
Dr. David Lawrence
Head of Nutrition, Agritech

It has been a relentless summer for many, but feeding is likely to remain a routine for the coming autumn. Fodder budgeting for those in the drought-stricken regions must take precedence. We may well have tremendous grass growth during October and November, however eating into forage reserves will likley continue.

Managing grass protein and rumen health

Grass can peak in crude protein content during the late August and September period (particularly after a long dry spell), which may result in high milk urea on dairy farms across the country. This reading can be worrisome (above 40 mg/dl), as cows plaster the yard in potent green manure. Silage is helpful in this scenario and can often contribute to improved milk production by slowing down the passage rate of feed, helping the animal capture more of the protein and energy in grass. Rumen buffers such as Rumicare Elite help to manage the acid load on the cow’s rumen in this scenario.

Extending the grazing rotation

The grazing rotation will need to be extended by feeding silage to create a bank of grass that will be fed into the early winter contributing to forage availability and milk production potential. Cow condition has suffered on many farms due to feed availability and stressful environmental conditions for livestock. This should be addressed throughout the autumn with concentrate allocation, or high starch forage crops. Many farmers are disappointed with pregnancy results as there is an increase in late calvers and empty rate due to environmental conditions. Longer dry cow periods often end up with over conditioned cows that struggle to conceive in the subsequent lactation. Manage this by continuing to feed cows during the autumn to maximise milk volume and extend their lactation as much as possible.

Weanling stock

Weanling stock should be on target weight (approximately 30% of mature weight for spring-born calves). Weighing stock early rather than waiting until they are housed offers an opportunity to group animals on weight and gives the option to house early or take advantage of late season grass depending on forage availability.

Maize silage

Maize silage is ripening more quickly than many have anticipated. Cobs have ripened as a response to the drought conditions experienced in the southeast. Ensile-Bio is a widely used silage inoculant for forage maize which will aid preservation and keep your feed face cooler for longer.

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In recent weeks, slow growth has been the common factor noted across the regions, with much of the focus devoted to balancing grass availability and maintaining quality.

Where grass growth is slow, wasting grass must be avoided. Residuals of 3.5 – 4cm must be achieved in order to create high-quality covers for the next rotation when growth rates will hopefully rectify themselves. Grass walks should be undertaken at least once weekly but ideally twice weekly where grass is tight.

Milk output must also be monitored; average milk yield decline should be no greater than 2.5% per week at this point in lactation.

Where volume or solids are falling quicker than this, quality and quantity of grass needs to be revised. Where quality is low, or silage is introduced into the diet, ensure the cows’ energy requirements are being met accordingly. Increased supplementation may be required.

Reduced energy density in the diet will result in decreased milk protein % and reduced milk output. Once growth has increased and quality has been rectified (with breeding also concluding), feeding rates can be reduced.

Looking ahead to the winter, now is a good time to assess how much fodder is on farm with first cuts completed, while some early 2nd cuts and surplus bales have been taken.

It’s important to plan for the forthcoming winter while noting how much subsequent forage remains unharvested.

At this point, Spring-born calves should have smoothly transitioned to grazing.

Weighing scales remain one of the most underutilised management tools on farm and should be used to gauge where we are at regarding target weights ~ 200kg by mid-September (33% of mature cow weight) or 07-0.8kg/hd/day.

Parasite burdens can also have a huge impact on youngstock performance over the 1st grazing season and should be discussed on a herd-by-herd basis with your veterinary practitioner.

For more information and calf rearing advice, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor here. 

Although it seems almost too early to admit, and it doesn’t appear to have been that long since ‘winter mode’ ended, but Winter 2024 is approaching, and a little bit of preparation over the next few weeks will help to set ourselves up and make informed decisions around management.

Year-on-Year grass silages can be extremely variable in nutritional qualities, and after a difficult growing season, large variation in quality between cuts may also be seen. Testing what silage is available in the yard is crucial to plan accordingly.

For dry cows, silage quality will dictate the condition of cows at calving, and dilution/corrective feeding may be required. Stretching silage with dry cows may also be required where deficits occur in feed budgets, and knowing silage nutritional analysis is a must in these cases.

Target BS at dry off is typically 2.75 – 3.0 and at calving is 3.0 – 3.25 – therefore we are aiming for a maintenance type diet over the 60-day dry period; 68-70% DMD silage will suffice here.

For thin cows, drying off early is the preferred option. If dried off early (e.g. 10-12-week dry period), cows fed average quality silage (68-70% DMD) should have an increase in BCS of approx. 0.5 units before calving.

For youngstock, feeding rates will also be dependent on silage quality results. If we take the same silage used for dry cows above with our youngstock, offering a

silage-only diet, a weight gain of only 0.3kg/day can be expected over the winter from a 70% DMD silage. Some

1.5 -2 kg of concentrate would be needed here to achieve target winter growth rates. Is their higher quality forage available for youngstock7

Fodder Budgeting

After the delayed spring, silage reserves have been depleted in many yards. Coupled with poor growth over the summer, refilling that reserve has proven a constant challenge for some. Conducting a quick fodder budget to highlight sufficient reserves or a deficit is crucial, and the sooner this is completed the more options that are available to help bridge the gap.

For more information contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor.

In the weeks post-calving, cows will produce more milk than their feed intake can provide for, resulting in Body Condition loss due to Negative Energy Balance. A cow typically reaches peak milk output 6-8 weeks post-calving but will only reach peak dry matter intake 10-12 weeks after calving. However, the success of breeding 2024 is mainly dictated by the severity and duration of this period of NEB during the weeks post-calving.

NEB will firstly appear in the form of low milk protein % in the short term and in the more long-term have detrimental consequences on fertility during the breeding season. The overall objective is to have calved down the cow at a BCS of 3.25 and maintain an average herd BCS of 3.0 (range 2.75 – 3.25) at the start of breeding, to achieve optimal fertility.

Keeping body condition loss to less than 0.5 BCS between calving and breeding has proven to significantly increase the likelihood of conception to first service, with cows that lost <0.5 body condition score between calving and breeding typically shown to ovulate 15 days sooner, than cows which lost >1 BCS.

In very practical terms, this means bridging and filling the energy gap between what the cow outputs relative to what is put into her in regard to feed. Forage quality (which is lower in many cases after the difficult 2023 silage season) and getting high quality grass into the diet will be the main dictating factors here.

After this, most of the energy deficit will have to be filled via concentrates in the parlour, with milk output coupled with silage analysis and ability to get to grass, dictating feeding rates this spring.

For more information, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor.