Archive Article: 2000/12/22
Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson farms a
325ha (800-acre) mixed
arable and dairy unit near
Kings Lynn, Norfolk. The
200 dairy cows average
6500 litres on a simple, high
forage system. They are
allocated 40ha (100 acres)
of permanent pasture,
44ha (110 acres) of short
term leys and maize grown
in the arable rotation
FOLLOWING on from last month, the second part of our great think tank was to change the calving pattern. We used to calve in Sept/Oct and again in Jan/March.
The problem with this was we ended up being busy all year round. Over the years, the more I have learned about dairying, the keener I have become on a single 10-week block calving. It simplifies management and allows a reduction in labour costs.
Having decided on a single block calving, the next decision was when to calve. Climatically Sept/Oct would be the best time due to our dry summers, however, this would coincide with our busiest period on the arable side.
The best time for us to start calving would be the beginning of January. This would allow us to make good use of the arable labour force during their slack time in the winter.
However, calving at this time means we would be half way through bulling cows when we turn them out to grass. The dramatic change in diet during service would be too detrimental to fertility, which cant be compromised with a single block calving herd.
To avoid this, it was a case of starting to calve in December or February. December would have been ideal for cows and our system but there are other practicalities you must take into account, notably that no-one fancied calving 200 cows over Christmas, so February it is.
Changing to a single block calving and using the arable labour force in winter means we only need one full-time cowman. Thus, the unfortunate part of the new system is that we were forced to make our assistant cowman redundant. Sadly tough times force you into tough decisions.
Recently I have been doing my homework on feeder wagons. You cant beat getting onto farms and speaking to dairy farmers if you want to really find out about something rather than relying on the sales pitches.
I think we are very lucky in farming that everyone is so open and helpful. So we have finally made our decision and a new feeder wagon should be coming wrapped in tinsel ready for Christmas.
I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas and we are all able to enjoy a more prosperous New Year. *
A single calving block will replace the two currently in use, simplifying management and allowing better use of the arable labour force, says Richard Thompson.