All things Dairy

[dinderleat]

Bulking till June works fine if you're not trying to milk off it and it's the cheapest conserved forage you'll make. You can plaster it in slurry in March without a worry unlike something you plan to cut in April.

When you see the forager spitting black smoke at 5mph you know you're getting your money's worth

Does the grass even grow again after in you r area?

 

[pappuller]

I've never seen 13 me silage

I'm sure @More to life

Bulking till June works fine if you're not trying to milk off it and it's the cheapest conserved forage you'll make. You can plaster it in slurry in March without a worry unlike something you plan to cut in April.

When you see the forager spitting black smoke at 5mph you know you're getting your money's worth

But leaving it till June isn't really maximising the production potential of that plant tho is it ? But the harvesting cost saving will outweigh any loss of quality/yield over the season

 

[Sylution]

This is the analysis of this years 1st cut. End of May this year, had no weather to go earlier. No huge amount of Milk in it however cows are cleaner than usually in winter, and the silage is easieer to manage. So am now not sure what is the best silage. Try to cut a week earlier this year for 11.2, 70d+ stuff. But definitely not thinking of going back to start of May rocket fuel.

 

[Headless chicken]

View attachment 1006735
This is the analysis of this years 1st cut. End of May this year, had no weather to go earlier. No huge amount of Milk in it however cows are cleaner than usually in winter, and the silage is easieer to manage. So am now not sure what is the best silage. Try to cut a week earlier this year for 11.2, 70d+ stuff. But definitely not thinking of going back to start of May rocket fuel.

I’ll be honest other than 1st which this year for the first time ever has been over 12, we’ve had disappointingly poor results from multi cut for a significant expense. Aim for this year is 5-10th may first cut
forage rye
Triticale and lupin wholecrop
Maize
Graze any acre we can after that

 

[Sylution]

I’ll be honest other than 1st which this year for the first time ever has been over 12, we’ve had disappointingly poor results from multi cut for a significant expense. Aim for this year is 5-10th may first cut
forage rye
Triticale and lupin wholecrop
Maize
Graze any acre we can after that

You have a mixer waggon for feeding out I suppose, easier to manage different forage then. Here i just grab from pit into feed passage and cows will always eat 1st cut over cut 2 and 3 in the same pit. Lots of milk in the 12me stuff?

 

[yin ewe]

So you can rent ground at £250 an acre, cut it on the 1st of May, pay the contractor to chase the grass round the field followed by 3 appropriately sized tractors and trailers, whose drivers main objective is to see how much reek they can produce, then wait 5 months hoping that the cows milk well.

Alternatively you can cut 3 weeks later, sacrifice a bit of quality, buy an extra load of meal which you can see the analysis of before it's even loaded on the lorry and get it delivered into your yard. Seems a whole lot less fuss than trying to get 5 cuts of silage in with our weather patterns.

 

[Beef farmer]

I'm going for 6 cuts next year if the weather allows. 20th April or there after, every 4/5 weeks.
Forage wagons make this very affordable.
Maize will give them all the fibre they need.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

13C when I finished this morning.
Put the fert on(if I had some) and start cutting mid February

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Oh and happy New year all.

 

[Barmyfarmer]

I keep whipping grass off whenever there's a half decent amount on and there's a window of weather, big crops are nothing but a pain in the arse for me and I never seem to get much milk out of stemmy silage

 

[Jdunn55]

Taken yesterday, Silage ground is motoring on
Happy new year all

 

[dinderleat]

Taken yesterday, Silage ground is motoring on
Happy new year all

I’ve jibbed and put some sheep on my forward stuff similar to that

 

[In the pit]

Hi

I can't graze all my land, I intend to graze the whole of the dairy farm but I have circa 200 acres elsewhere which I can't graze because most of it is a 15 minute drive away! Of that 100 acres isn't grazeable because there's no water/too small a block/no fencing/because the landlord doesn't want me to
So the plan would be: 100 acres of away ground that IS grazeable would have youngstock and sheep on with any excess taken as hay in June
100 acres of away ground that ISN'T grazeable would have a first cut in April that would be clamped for autumn calvers and spring calvers when they don't have access to grazing,
when they do have access to grazing they will be buffer fed maize at the shoulders of the year instead which will be grown on the away blocks of land as a break crop

Before someone says why don't I increase numbers further with the land available, I might but it will depend on infrastructure because I'm maxed to 150 cows on this farm and dad's farm there's currently limited grazing around the yard which is where the holsteins come in... plus I intend to walk before I start running!

Taken yesterday, Silage ground is motoring on
Happy new year all

Looks a lot of rubbish / dead stuff in the bottom of that

 

[Headless chicken]

You have a mixer waggon for feeding out I suppose, easier to manage different forage then. Here i just grab from pit into feed passage and cows will always eat 1st cut over cut 2 and 3 in the same pit. Lots of milk in the 12me stuff?

yes we used to but had an absolute nightmare one year when the stuff was so variable they would just fight for the bits they wanted. Wagon certainly makes the management easier.
On paper there’s loads of milk but we’ve had to add hay back in once the rye stopped to get some fibre into them. Hoping the Maize will help with that next year.

 

[som farmer]

Taken yesterday, Silage ground is motoring on
Happy new year all

that really needs to come off, cold winds in feb/march, could wipe that out, seen it to many times. Or chance it, and take an early cut, we cut 28th march, last year, and it was some decent stuff. Being cut the previous oct, there wasn't to much crap in the bottom.

 

[Headless chicken]

I'm going for 6 cuts next year if the weather allows. 20th April or there after, every 4/5 weeks.
Forage wagons make this very affordable.
Maize will give them all the fibre they need.

Big advantage of that would be the ability for the plant to photosynthesis quicker post cutting which you don’t get when all you’ve got it white stubble.

 

[lazy farmer]

I'm going for 6 cuts next year if the weather allows. 20th April or there after, every 4/5 weeks.
Forage wagons make this very affordable.
Maize will give them all the fibre they need.

It’s no wonder you autumn boys need a premium

 

[Beef farmer]

It’s no wonder you autumn boys need a premium

Premium product deserves a premium price.
You ought to graze an 80 day round in the season.
Mental grazing every 24 days.

 

[lazy farmer]

Premium product deserves a premium price.
You ought to graze an 80 day round in the season.
Mental grazing every 24 days.

That’s the dream. A couple of more yrs on the hamster wheel And my relationship with money/bank can change forever.

 

[Beef farmer]

That’s the dream. A couple of more yrs on the hamster wheel And my relationship with money/bank can change forever.

So go all holistic, knowing that you won't make as much money?