Bill Webb Feed Solutions Outlook

Farm pasture cover is at the low end of the scale and continuing cold weather will see it drop even further so it's time to think about supplementing cows' intake.

In late July Dairy NZ reported 2100 kg/Dm/ha average farm cover which is below the 2200 kg DM/ha target farmers will need if they are to feed at least kg DM/ha per cow of good quality supplements a day. This pinch period is a tough time for farmers to get through with calving, colostrum and milking mobs. Farmers worry about if there is enough grass growing behind and in front of the cows and whether or not they will run out of feed especially in the second round.
It's a time to be careful not to graze too hard, as if you've got grass you can grow more but the reverse is also true. Soil temperatures are dropping to the low 7 degrees Celsius now, which means growth will slow. Farmers cannot let cows loose for another two months but must hold them back behind the fence to preserve feed.
Supplementing with fibre can make a huge difference at this time. We have grazers on fresh, annual rye grass in our maize paddocks that are being fed 10 kg a day of rye grass and 2kg of threshed rye grass straw. One farmer commented that they are in excellent condition – 'the best they have done ever on winter grazing during the last eight years we have been grazing them”. Cutting grass from a run-off and bringing it to stock is one way of keeping up their intake while preserving pasture.
One local farmer who keeps his cows in a wintering barn has experienced a 25 per cent reduction in feed demand but an increase in production – because the animals are not walking off their food, don't have to work for it nor use energy to keep warm. Keeping the cows housed also protects pasture, and the effluent can be collected and used as fertiliser for maize or turnip cropping paddocks which reduces the cost of inputs.
Another client with 900 cows on winter milking is feeding threshed rye at a rate of 2 kg a day; and is seeing definite benefits. He couldn't believe that just 2 kg per head could make so much difference to their performance.
Keeping cows well nourished, by combining fibre with the high energy grass in their diet, means you are not milking off their backs and will keep them milking longer and in good condition, with mating just around the corner.
It's beneficial to keep up the fibre even into December, when the dry matter in grass is often not as high as would be thought. Spring, is, of course, when milk production should be at its peak and farmers want to take advantage of the good pay out to pay off debt, buy another farm, or for sharemilkers, or buy a bigger herd. So spending a bit more on feed to lift and extend production makes sense.
Now is also the time to be thinking about the nutrition of pastures. We've noticed nitrogen levels have dropped on our paddocks that we have just soil tested, probably from rain in late autumn to early winter.
As well sulphur levels can be effected to by leaching from heavy rain.
If grass looks yellow, it may not be just a lack of nitrogen, but sulphur too, so soil tests to establish what's going on are well worth it. Then you can apply exactly what's needed instead of taking a costly guess.
Many farmers will have re-sown pasture after the drought and now is the time to control weeds before they get too big and compete with the grass. Apply nitrogen each time you graze them until they are well established which also helps until clovers get established while helping to smother weeds.
Look after new pasture as if it was a crop, because in fact that's exactly what it is.