£7/cow bonus for early fortnight
£7/cow bonus for early fortnight
GETTING cows out two weeks early is worth almost £7 a cow, according to one West Midlands producer.
Speaking at the MDC Focus Centre meeting, Mark Elliott said an extra two weeks at grass saved him concentrate, silage, bedding and slurry spreading.
With cows out just half a day they can produce 10 litres from grass, saving £2.50 a cow in concentrate, £3 worth of silage and £1.25 on bedding and slurry spreading charges, he calculated.
For his 190-cow herd, this represented a saving of £1280 each spring. Cows would also benefit from reduced mastitis and lameness risks.
He hopes to turn cows out on his Groveley Farm, south of Birmingham city, this month, and his target is to produce an average of 20 litres of milk from grazing between March and September.
He believes this is realistic, but only possible with a good plan and by walking grass fields regularly.
"We aim to supply ad-lib leafy grass to cows all summer. Stalk is worth little more than straw. Grass leaf can support cows yielding 22 to 24 litres of milk in spring and this is the cheapest form of production," he said.
Turning cows out two weeks early will save concentrates, silage and straw bedding, says Mark Elliott.