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.

Grass Growth

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 

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

Forage Stocks

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. With forage stocks depleted due to the late spring, it’s important to plan for the forthcoming winter while noting how much subsequent forage remains unharvested.

2024 Spring-Born Calves

At this point, 2024 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 0.7-0.8kg/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, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor

It’s vitally important that the next generation of milking cows don’t fall between two stools in the quieter part of the year. Now that breeding season is drawing closer to its completion, the focus should be on the class of 2025 to ensure replacement heifer target weights are achieved over the next number of months.

Hitting target weights at certain milestones is crucial to ensure replacement heifers are on course to achieve the main goal of being 60% of their mature weight when bred at 15 months. Ideally at this point, 2024 born calves will have adjusted to a grass based diet without set-backs and the transition period has gone smoothly.

For many the decision on reducing or removing supplementary concentrates will be made shortly ~ end of June, early July. However, this decision should hinge on current weights relative to target, grass availability/quality and/or their transition to grass and grazing. Abrupt changes should be avoided, and gradual reductions advised.

Weighing scales are by far one of the most underutilised management tools on farm. Timing of weighing can also be beneficial. By weighing mid-season, compared to just at the point of housing, allows farmers to identify heifers that are behind target. The best advice is to group accordingly and make alternative plans for those heifers under target weights.

The threshold figure for 2024 spring born weanling heifers is approximately 200kg in mid-September (33% of an assumed mature weight of 600kg). Heifers that are lighter than this should be separated and given priority access to the highest quality grass and re-introduce concentrates depending on their weight relative to the herds target. Parasite burdens and their control can have a major influence on performance mid-summer for 1st season grazers. A herd health plan for parasite issues/control
should be discussed on a herd-by-herd basis with your veterinary practitioner.

For further advice, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor or visit www.agritech.ie

Hitting target weights at certain milestones is crucial to ensure replacement heifers are on course to achieve the main goal of being 60% of their mature weight when bred at 15 months.

Meal feeding at grass

Transitioning calves from a milk-based diet to a grass-based diet can be tricky. Spring born calves that are weaned and now at grass, should be offered supplementary concentrates in the diet for 4-6 weeks minimum, to ease with the transition onto a grass-based diet.

Where 102kgs concentrate is offered at grass for the first number of weeks, this reduces the total amount of fresh grazed grass in the diet and avoids hungry calves over-indulging on lush low fibre, high N grass; resulting in what is often referred to as ‘summer scour’.

Alongside offering concentrates, fibre sources can also be offered in the diet (e.g., straw/hay/roughage) through this transition, as well as turning calves into slightly heavier covers. We must remember young calves are not fully developed ruminants yet and high quality lush grass may not be the best forage for supporting rumen development.

Target weights

Weighing scales are by far one of the most under-utilised management tools on farm. Timing of weighing can also be beneficial. By weighing in the weeks pre-housing, compared to weighing at the point of housing, allows farmers to identify heifers that are behind target. The best advice is to group accordingly and make alternative plans for those heifers under target weights.

The threshold figure for 2023 spring born weanling heifers is approximately 200kg in mid-September (33% of an assumed mature weight of 600kg). Heifers that are lighter than this should be separated and given priority access to the highest quality grass and re-introduce concentrates depending on their weight relative to the herds target.

Further information: 

For more information, contact your local Sales Advisor.

Firstly, weaning should only ever occur once calves are consuming at least 1.5 kg of concentrate per head per day in group scenarios. Alongside this, gradual weaning is advised to minimise stress levels in young calves and to allow them to increase dry matter intakes over a prolonged period.

During the first grazing season, heifer calves should have a good consistent growth rate of 750g /day or 20kg/month. Calves should always have access to high-quality grass, and depending on target weight gain and grass availability, a quality concentrate supplementation may be required. Typical advice is to feed meal at least 6 weeks post-weaning/turnout and reintroduce meal again in autumn if desired weights are not being met.

Setbacks that occur now or over the first grazing season will result in heifers struggling to meet target weights in the future and can result in these heifers not making it to the parlour.

What is Summer Scour? 

Year on year, in the proceeding weeks after turnout to grass, cases of calves suffering from setbacks are reported, typically described as Summer Scour Syndrome or calf wastage.
Lush grass is very high in oils like CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), sugars and potentially nitrogen, and to a young undeveloped rumen this can be hard to adjust to. In addition, low covers of grass have very little fibre, which is a key substrate for good rumen health.

It’s often asked why Summer Scour Syndrome was not an issue until recent years, and the short answer is that we are victims of our own success. Grassland management has dramatically improved over the past number of years. Calf rearing has also improved, and we are typically weaning calves at 8-10 weeks of age. It is also worth noting that ditches are now typically fenced off to youngstock where historically they would have been used as a source of fibre by calves.

In severe cases or if prolonged, rumen function can be severely impaired and B vitamins may no longer be manufactured by the rumen, resulting in blindness and ‘star-gazing’.

Note: Where poor thrive/scouring is an issue at grass post-turnout, Coccidiosis should be the first port of call to rule out.

Avoiding the issue: 

Ideally, the rumen is developed over the milk feeding period/pre-weaning by offering ad lib access to concentrates (18% Crude protein crunch/nut), and clean fresh straw to reduce your risk of Summer Scour Syndrome.

Below are several management practices that can help combat against the onset of Summer Scour Syndrome symptoms this season, a few which will be farm/system dependent:

1. Offering concentrates in the weeks post-turnout will help to avoid overindulging on rapidly digestible lush grass. Hungry calves are more likely to gorge on lush covers.
2. During periods of rapid growth, avoid letting calves into low covers of grass. Until rumens are well developed and luxury uptake of nitrogen is not a problem, target covers of at least 1,200-1,400 kg DM/ha for 8-10 weeks after turnout.
3. The use of Agritech’s Rumicare in meal pre and post-weaning will help the buffering capacity in the rumen, decrease the risk of acidosis/ruminal upsets during the transition period and promote positive bacteria populations in the rumen (typically included at 2%).
4. Give access to grass and indoor accommodation simultaneously prior to full-time turnout to ease the transition to grass.
5. Offer a fibre source post-turnout. Round feeders are an option to allow access to clean dry straw.
6. Use strip-wire allocations. Strip-wires allow for less selective grazing and force calves to eat stem content along with the leaf.

More Information: 

For more information on reducing the stress of weaning on your calves, contact your local Agritech Sales Advisor.