Archive Article: 2000/03/03
Stephen Brandon
Stephen Brandon farms
100ha (250 acres) at New
Buildings Farm, Stafford,
with another 30ha (73
acres) of grazing taken
annually. He has 170
pedigree Holstein Friesians
and 110 replacements.
Recently he took on a
contract farming agreement
involving a further 160 cows
on 80ha (200 acres)
ALL systems are go. With so many cows due to calve we feel as though we have been sitting on a time-bomb waiting for it to explode. But Lesley and I did manage to get away for a weeks skiing at the end of January before the mayhem began.
We are now milking 92 cows. So far calving is going well with most needing no assistance. Having dry cows housed for the last two months has helped as we have had good control over their diet. But time will tell, the Belgian Blue calves that caused a lot of trouble last year are due in early March.
Two years ago we had an exceptionally dry February, and with hindsight missed an opportunity to begin grazing. So when conditions allowed this year 35 newly calved cows went out to grass on Feb 6.
The ever increasing herd of milkers has been grazing for two to three hours most days since then. We have been successfully walking cows over long grass to graze the back of a paddock first and then grazing closer to the track on subsequent days.
Turnout was earlier than the grass budget had suggested. On Jan 31 the average cover was 1919kg DM/ha, 100kg short of our target. But good weather and small cow numbers initially, provided an opportunity to be taken.
Fortunately, last autumn I made the right decision and maintained the cereal acreage, despite our plans to increase cow numbers this year. Rotational grazing continues to prove that it can grow more grass over the season and that we can increase stocking rate.
It is mid-February and we are only just thinking about opening the silage clamp containing last years first and second cut. There could still be 600-700t of silage left in the clamp when cows go out full time. Bad news for our silage contractors.
Calf feeding has taken on a whole new meaning this year, with so many calves born at once. The old single pens are redundant and we now pen calves in groups of eight to 10 as they are born. *
With so many calves born at once, feeding them has taken on a new meaning for Stephen Brandon.