Chris Knowles
Chris Knowles
Chris Knowles farms in
partnership with his
parents in the West
Penwith Environmentally
Sensitive Area near St Ives,
Cornwall. The farm consists
of 97ha (240 acres) of
grassland and 45ha
(110 acres) of rough
moor land, stocked with
160 dairy cows, 80
followers and 50 assorted
beef animals
WE BEGAN AI on Apr 10, giving a start date for calving next year of Jan 15.
Dry, sunny weather has certainly helped cows come bulling and is quite a contrast to the past two wet, miserable Aprils. After 14 days of serving, 86 cows have been inseminated out of about 145 that are eligible.
The situation with bulling heifers has been better than I could have expected. Between Apr 10 and 15, 35 out of 47 came bulling and were inseminated USING Holstein Friesian semen. The plan was, as last year, that after a week any heifers not served would be given prostaglandin.
But having caught so many in the first week, I decided to put the remaining dozen straight to the bull. I think I had started to feel a bit sorry for him, as he has waited patiently since last July for a bit of spice in his life.
Aprils grass growth in west Cornwall has been extremely variable. Cold east winds and a lack of any decent rain has put pressure on grazing fields. But one days rain and higher temperatures meant the whole farm took off, with growth rates reaching over 100kg DM/ha a day towards the end of the month.
Along with another farm in the West Penwith moors Environmentally Sensitive Area, we recently played host to the Cornwall Grassland Society county field day. Our co-hosts situation was similar to ours – similar size farm and similar cow numbers, but a huge difference in cow size, theirs being Jerseys and ours Holsteins.
Both of us had plenty of lush green grass on show. The day was blessed with spring sunshine and not a breath of wind. Afterwards, I wondered whether most of the 130 producers in attendance had gone home thinking that we farm in a land of milk and honey: If only. *
Recent rain and warm weather has done wonders for April grass growth on Chris Knowles Cornish dairy unit.