REPORTS FROM THE SHARP END…
REPORTS FROM THE SHARP END…
The real world of dairy
farming is reflected in the
experiences of our
livestock producer
contributors. Heres the
latest news from our four
busy producers. Their
reports are from Berkshire,
Gloucestershire, Stafford
and Sussex
George Holmes farms with
his brother David, on two
rented units totalling 144ha
(360 acres) in Sussex. They
are currently stocked with
115 dairy cows, block
calved in the autumn and
100 followers. His objective
is to decrease costs,
particularly by increasing
use of grazed grass
WE STARTED feeding silage on October 17 – not because of lack of grass, rather due to the poor grazing conditions in wet weather. The cows immediately decided that grass was totally disgusting and it was very difficult to persuade them to eat any grass whatsoever. Anyway, they soon won the argument, and conditions were so bad that by October 23 they came in full time. If the ground dries up we will try putting them out for a few hours each day.
We plan to start inseminating the cows from November 25. Over the last 10 years we have used high index Holstein bulls and the herd £PIN has risen to 56, putting us in the top 100 herds in the UK. But over that period our cows seem to have become much more prone to disease, especially mastitis.
This year we bought in 13 cows that are mainly Friesian bloodlines and these definitely seem less prone to disease. In addition, local farmers have noticed a drop in herd fertility as Holstein blood has increased in their herds. We have moved our calving date from June to September over the last few years so the extra number of days open may have hidden the fertility problem in our herd.
We have therefore decided to use New Zealand Friesian semen this year. I am particularly keen because New Zealand data provides breeding values for survivability, which tends to be negative for Holsteins and positive for Friesians.
The other benefit is that New Zealand tested bulls are proven on a grass diet. Although groups of bulls tested on a variety of diets will have the same average index, evidence from New Zealand suggests the ranking order can vary considerably. In fact I am so keen that I have got myself the job of selling Livestock Improvement (as the New Zealand Dairy Boards breeding company is called) semen in the local area.
To stay profitable we need to make tough decisions for the future. Continuing to lease quota at current prices seems daft. Real options include: reducing cow numbers from the 160 we will have this autumn; postponing the start of breeding by moving the herd to spring calving; producing less milk a cow and feeding grass without concentrate.
The first choice does not grow the business and the second may not work well in our dry corner of the country. Time to do some number crunching. *
Cows immediately decided grass was disgusting once theyd been offered silage says George Holmes.