Use once-a-day (OAD) milking after calving
December 10th, 2008
Advantages:
- Cows do not lose condition at a rate which would normally result from twice-a-day milking. It enables cows to recover from the stress of calving, not draw as much energy and subsequently body fat reserves to enable them to recover from their negative energy balance quicker. They also mate with better body condition score which improves conception rates, especially in the first three weeks of mating.
- If you can’t spend money on buying in feed, seriously think about staying on OAD for longer than 28 days or have a second mob of later calvers on OAD for 28 days.
• Apply Urea (or a form of Nitrogen) behind the cows to promote maximum pasture growth. Even at $950/tonne, at a 10 to 1 response rate Urea costs $0.21/kg DM, which is still the cheapest form of supplementary feed available. It’s more the timing, or lack of timing which makes the activity more costly.
• Think carefully about your first-round rotation planner and ensure they only graze their farm once in the first six weeks of calving. If they go any quicker than this, they risk having insufficient feed for cows in the second round because paddocks just won’t have been able to grow sufficient cover, further compounding the problem. For more information contact LIC FarmWise Manager Sue Hagenson on phone 0800 238 476.
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