All things Dairy

[pine_guy]

Hmmmm, grazing a dry farm has its pitfalls

 

[lazy farmer]

Hmmmm, grazing a dry farm has its pitfalls
View attachment 977778

Cows look well

 

[pine_guy]

Cows look well ❤

They are looking after themselves a bit too well for my liking, at least that should help with fertility, into the second cycle now.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

View attachment 977775Interesting cutting lay down on some of our heaviest away land. It will be interesting to see what persists

Unless you're planning on cutting every 25 days I'm not sure chicory will persist of make a desirable cutting species.

Due to a drilling bugger up by me I now have 24 ac of a high plantain/diploid prg/wc mix on away ground for cutting and 24 ac of red clover and tetraploid prg next to the parlour.

 

[Jdunn55]

Unless you're planning on cutting every 25 days I'm not sure chicory will persist of make a desirable cutting species.

Due to a drilling bugger up by me I now have 24 ac of a high plantain/diploid prg/wc mix on away ground for cutting and 24 ac of red clover and tetraploid prg next to the parlour.

Oh that's really not ideal

You're right about the chicory it goes like wood and is horrible stuff in a cutting mix, great for grazing though

 

[Ducati899]

should be all baled up before tomorrow’s rain

 

[som farmer]

Which herbs are you broadcasting ?
Which grasses are you replacing your PRG with ?
We seemed to have missed most of the rain. Had a few showers but could do with a good soak. This is the 4th spring I have had to buffer due to lack of moisture. Normally a wet region.

know the feeling well, though we do tend to dry out late summer/autumn. Bottom of our garden, stream runs through the farm, tend to use it as a 'barometer', it's still way lower than it should be, so, not enough ground water yet.
Used three herbs, chicory, plantain and vetch.
vetch, in a grazing ley hasn't worked, in our hybrid rye/vetches, brilliant.
chicory, fine, increasing as the season goes on, and cows love it, has a tendency now to bolt, so topping behind them.
Plantain, good early growth, then tailed off, now full steam ahead, with chicory, tends to be either, or, now, whether that's normal, wait and see.
We have put a bit, in with the fert, chicory, seems to establish very easily, haven't put plantain in that way.
Grasses, fesques, cocksfoot, and late prg, 'drought resistant' ones, and lots of clover.
It's not been the ideal summer to try them, everything has grown ! But, it has all yielded well, so no real penalty by having them, the dry grass mix, fed last summer, was better than prg/w clover leys, when really dry.
That's about it, we shall keep on with them, and experiment with other types/mixes. Festololiums have some drought resistant strains, they may well go in with r clover for silage. We will have a long consistent run, of nice damp summers now, just for spite ! But, in a dry time here, a lot of ryegrasses, simply died, and that is not sustainable, some medium length leys, have been either redrilled, or overseeded, twice, in 3 yrs, just died off.

 

[In the pit]

know the feeling well, though we do tend to dry out late summer/autumn. Bottom of our garden, stream runs through the farm, tend to use it as a 'barometer', it's still way lower than it should be, so, not enough ground water yet.
Used three herbs, chicory, plantain and vetch.
vetch, in a grazing ley hasn't worked, in our hybrid rye/vetches, brilliant.
chicory, fine, increasing as the season goes on, and cows love it, has a tendency now to bolt, so topping behind them.
Plantain, good early growth, then tailed off, now full steam ahead, with chicory, tends to be either, or, now, whether that's normal, wait and see.
We have put a bit, in with the fert, chicory, seems to establish very easily, haven't put plantain in that way.
Grasses, fesques, cocksfoot, and late prg, 'drought resistant' ones, and lots of clover.
It's not been the ideal summer to try them, everything has grown ! But, it has all yielded well, so no real penalty by having them, the dry grass mix, fed last summer, was better than prg/w clover leys, when really dry.
That's about it, we shall keep on with them, and experiment with other types/mixes. Festololiums have some drought resistant strains, they may well go in with r clover for silage. We will have a long consistent run, of nice damp summers now, just for spite ! But, in a dry time here, a lot of ryegrasses, simply died, and that is not sustainable, some medium length leys, have been either redrilled, or overseeded, twice, in 3 yrs, just died off.

I don’t know how your ryegrasses died , farmed in Dorset on 8inches of soil on chalkland
It would get dry for months and clover would take over , then the rains would come and ryegrass would grow away again never died

 

[In the pit]

know the feeling well, though we do tend to dry out late summer/autumn. Bottom of our garden, stream runs through the farm, tend to use it as a 'barometer', it's still way lower than it should be, so, not enough ground water yet.
Used three herbs, chicory, plantain and vetch.
vetch, in a grazing ley hasn't worked, in our hybrid rye/vetches, brilliant.
chicory, fine, increasing as the season goes on, and cows love it, has a tendency now to bolt, so topping behind them.
Plantain, good early growth, then tailed off, now full steam ahead, with chicory, tends to be either, or, now, whether that's normal, wait and see.
We have put a bit, in with the fert, chicory, seems to establish very easily, haven't put plantain in that way.
Grasses, fesques, cocksfoot, and late prg, 'drought resistant' ones, and lots of clover.
It's not been the ideal summer to try them, everything has grown ! But, it has all yielded well, so no real penalty by having them, the dry grass mix, fed last summer, was better than prg/w clover leys, when really dry.
That's about it, we shall keep on with them, and experiment with other types/mixes. Festololiums have some drought resistant strains, they may well go in with r clover for silage. We will have a long consistent run, of nice damp summers now, just for spite ! But, in a dry time here, a lot of ryegrasses, simply died, and that is not sustainable, some medium length leys, have been either redrilled, or overseeded, twice, in 3 yrs, just died off.

Sounds like compaction, roots not getting down

 

[In the pit]

Lowest scc ever

 

[Cowmansam]

Some how I think there might be a mistake

 

[som farmer]

I don’t know how your ryegrasses died , farmed in Dorset on 8inches of soil on chalkland
It would get dry for months and clover would take over , then the rains would come and ryegrass would grow away again never died

yes, never had it before, but just didn't come back, annual meadow grass, weeds and odd bits, some places here, took 8 weeks, for rape to start, weeds started coming same time as rape, so moisture, not us.
I have never in 50 yrs, had such a dry time, 75/6 was bad enough, but springs that kept going then, dried up 3 summers ago, and still not come back yet. We have/had, a spring fed reservoir, used to keep 200 cows, and young stock, going for oct to june, that's down to 1 water trough, luckily, put a bore in, and pressurised the whole system, other than, that 1 trough.
Weather has changed, we can see the rain approaching, they can have it either side of us, but we farm the hill, between two valleys, and it just goes either side of us. We seem to get heavy showers, instead of steady rain, that run off. We have had to buy in fodder for the dairy, 3 years, unheard of before. Just hoping nature returns us to our normal supply.
One off years, are bad enough, 3 in a row, no good at all. So, we have altered things around, to cope for another, and hoping it doesn't come.

 

[som farmer]

Sounds like compaction, roots not getting down

definitely not, anal about that, we pan very easily, so, subsoil, and aerate, the latter, great, because we can get surface pans as well, an those cuts, should help some rain to stay put. A spade, is very useful, unless you dig a hole, you don't know what your soil, is doing.
And, to make sure, those herbs put down long tap roots, which 'are mean't' to break through pans.

 

[In the pit]

Some how I think there might be a mistake

I thought that but everything else looks spot on
Bf ,protein urea and tank wash giving trouble hence 52

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Normally when I get a very low scc I also get a very low butterfat.

 

[lazy farmer]

Normally when I get a very low scc I also get a very low butterfat.

That’s what I thought when looking at that sample.

 

[lazy farmer]

Does anybody else have a specific dates on which you know your milk quality is going to change?. Every July our bf is frustratingly low at 4.5 but as soon as we get a august test it’s up to 4.80 without fail.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Do you make this yourself? I’m intrigued would love to have a go!

Yes, we've just got a little old separator. I'd guess it was from the 50s or maybe even older.

Mum and Dad started the farm with 30 cows selling clotted cream.

 

[Cowmansam]

Does anybody else have a specific dates on which you know your milk quality is going to change?. Every July our bf is frustratingly low at 4.5 but as soon as we get a august test it’s up to 4.80 without fail.

Do they pay differently that month

 

[lazy farmer]

Do they pay differently that month

Nope.seasonality based on litres kicks in in September. That’s when we aim for 40p by nov