After a fantastic back end to the grazing season, the focus of farmers has increasingly turned towards nutrition levels from winter forage.

Hopefully for many herds, and where silage stocks are tight, the last number of weeks will have alleviated some pressure from the feed budget. However, it is still worth knowing what reserve is available for next spring.

The aim over the winter period will ultimately depend on the animal type, whereby youngstock/dry cows will be stored/maintained over the winter (target Average daily gain of 0.5-0.7 kg/hd/day youngstock). Cashflow animals will also be targeted to achieve optimum performance, be it winter milk herds or finishing cattle.

However, you cannot manage what isn’t measured, and the same applies in terms of what quality silage is available to you in the yard.

Silage analysis results will often signal the level of fermentation that occurred which can be used to predict the stability of the pit and therefore dictate feed-out management. However, the importance of completing forage analysis hinges around allowing farmers to make informed decisions regarding feed plans dependant on stock type.

For dry cows, silage analysis will also dictate feed plans:

Replacement heifers

Weanlings/replacement heifers should be offered the national average of 67% DMD well-preserved grass silage, while underweight heifers will typically require 1.5-2kg of concentrates/head/day. This can be reduced by 1 kg/day (0.5-1 kg/head/day) if silage digestibility is 5% higher or where heifers are at or above target weight.

For example, on target heifers (grass silage quality of ~ 70% DMD) require supplementation of 0.5 – 1 kg of concentrates. Early turnout for the lightest heifers in the herd will them help gain lost ground next spring. However, this should not represent the sole contingency plan with under-target replacements.

Separate heifers should be housed and fed in separate groups according to the requirements needed to achieve their target weight at breeding. The target at housing is 40% of mature body weight and 50% in early February when turned out to grass.

For more advice, contact your local Sales Advisor here.

With many cows dried off this month, the focus in most yards is on correct dry cow management. However, we must consider nutrition plans for cows calving down for the coming spring.

Several key factors directly correlate to the success of the calving season, including:

1. A planned and well executed dry cow mineral programme.
2. Calving down the cow in the correct body condition score.
3. Excellent animal husbandry in the week’s pre and post-calving (no additional stressors).
4. Careful transition diet planning.

Fast forward to late January/February, especially given how silage quality was hampered by the weather this year: do we have sufficient high-quality forage available for when cows calve down/and if not, what is the plan of action?

Negative Energy Balance

In the weeks post-calving, cows will always produce more milk than their feed intake can provide for, resulting in Body Condition loss due to Negative Energy Balance. For example, a cow will typically reach peak milk output 6-8 weeks post-calving but will only reach peak dry matter intake 10-12 weeks after calving. The freshly calved cow’s diet must be sufficient to keep body weight loss to less than 0.5 Body Condition Score (BCS) between calving and breeding.

Dry matter intake typically increases by 0.75 – 1.0 kg/week post-calving – highlighting the need for an energy-dense transition diet. This can be difficult to control where silage quality is compromised. Where a deficit occurs, we must be prepared to fill the gap, or issues such as poor fertility will come into effect in May. Adequate concentrate supplementation will be paramount (dependent on milk output), along with the inclusion of high-energy grazed grass in the diet.

Monitoring NEB on Farm

1. Falling/low milk protein % (signalling energy restriction in the diet – caused by poor quality silage, delayed turnout and/or insufficient supplementation levels relative to cow output).
2. Body condition loss across the herd (>25% of cows with a >0.5 unit of BCS loss in early lactation).
3. A bulk tank milk fat: protein ratio > 1.4 (calculated by dividing the milk fat % by milk protein %) signals poor energy balance in the herd’s diet.

Further Advice:

For more information, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor.

Prevention of metabolic disorders next spring will hinge around management decisions that will be made in the coming weeks. When costs associated with clinical cases are assessed alongside the time and labour involved in such cases, prevention is always better than cure.

It remains best practice to dry off cows at, or very close to the same condition that they should calve down in (target BCS 3.0-3.25). Nutrition over the dry period targeting maintenance – with thin cows ideally dried off early to permit BCS recouperation –typically equates to 68-70% DMD silage in an adlib silage feeding scenario. However, one should always be mindful that over conditioned cows at calving are troublesome and can be linked with several metabolic issues.

Dry Cow Mineral Provision

Feeding a dry cow mineral throughout the dry period is essential to build up mineral reserves and allows the cow to calve down comfortably. High Potassium (K) levels in silages is very common, which requires dilution of K levels in the diet and/or a high level of soluble Magnesium (Mg) to counter the increased risk of milk fever. High levels of K limits Mg absorption, delaying the release of Calcium (Ca) and increases the incidence of milk fever. Grass silage with greater than 1.8% K can cause issues.

Sub-clinical cases of milk fever are being estimated to cost greater than €100 with approximately six sub-clinical cases going undetected for every single clinical case seen. This typically presents through slow calving and/or retained afterbirths. Where this has proven an issue, a silage mineral analysis establishes K% in the dry cow silage being offered. A preventative plan can then be put in place to preclude reoccurrences.

Feed Facilities

When there’s limited feed space for dry cows, and where minerals are being dusted on top of silage, some cows may not be benefiting from the advised feed rate. Minerals can be offered via diet feeder or alternatively where top-dressing minerals at the barrier and space is limited, offer minerals twice daily (half rate AM/half rate PM) to ensure all cows receive the correct amount.

Learn more about our Welmin Dry Cow Mineral Range.

For more information, contact your local Sales Advisor.