Autumn calving cow milk yields

cjbailey

Member
Livestock Farmer
Not really Autumn calving but we start calving July. Always have done think historically due to lambing a lot of sheep and milk price going up in the Autumn. We no longer lamb sheep but it suits our farm well. Holsteins currently doing 10500 litres. Once they calve they are in at night but out in the day. Not as tight a calving block as we would like but probably due to yeilds. Housing full time varies depending on ground conditions but we try to keep them out as long as possible normally mid October. Try to avoid opening the silage clamp untill September. Started doing multi cut (5 cuts of silage which really suits our cows and farm). Come spring we try to graze them as much as possible out day and night until dry off. Up north and a very wet farm so not uncommon for them not get out until mid April and sometime have to house for a week or so in August. It works very well for our farm but must admit it won't suit everyone. Get the advantages of calving majority of the cows outside at grass, all heifer born in a tight block and can be managed as one, and calve them down at 2 (my grandfather started calving them at two decades ago), can focus on heat detection in September and get to focus on sorting field drains out and feild work in the spring.
 

Jdunn55

Member
It's surprising if you really want to pump the milk out how grazing 10 days to long in the wrong weather and then transitioning to silage can really damage the rest of the winters lactation.
I would personally be tempted to put them straight onto silage after calving (atleast by day) but didn't want to say it as I'd be slaughtered by the grazers on here 🤣
 

In the pit

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembrokeshire
Why are people mentioning jerseys? They are the lowest yielding cows you can have in terms of litres, obviously solids are different but this is a white water contract!!!

Forget the jerseys
As a pedigree British friesian breeder forget them too

Holstein all the way, full steam ahead
Block calve in september-October
Graze until the end of October by day, house by night, pump the cake into them, if you can grow maize do it, multicut grass, wholecrop if no maize
Plenty of concentrates

Out grazing by day as soon as you can once you have finished serving and start cutting cake back
Enjoy the summer

Sounds like my idea of a dream
You need to get a bit more experience with jerseys before deciding what they can and can’t do
There is a big herd which of housed cows I know of who actively seek out jerseys crosses,,why ,, because not only do they milk litres well and solids but they tend to get back in calf within a week of the same day every year
 

Jdunn55

Member
You need to get a bit more experience with jerseys before deciding what they can and can’t do
There is a big herd which of housed cows I know of who actively seek out jerseys crosses,,why ,, because not only do they milk litres well and solids but they tend to get back in calf within a week of the same day every year
Solids are completely irrelevant and not even worth mentioning in this case

Fertility is more about management than the cow imo
There won't be many herds of jerseys doing anything near 10,000 litres whereas a holsteins can do that with ease
 

In the pit

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembrokeshire
Solids are completely irrelevant and not even worth mentioning in this case

Fertility is more about management than the cow imo
There won't be many herds of jerseys doing anything near 10,000 litres whereas a holsteins can do that with ease
Read what the op put in his opening statement “ he wants a simple “ system he doesn’t want to be babysitting Holstein cows he wants a robust cow that’ll work for him rather than he working for it
 

DairyNerd

Member
Livestock Farmer
Not really Autumn calving but we start calving July. Always have done think historically due to lambing a lot of sheep and milk price going up in the Autumn. We no longer lamb sheep but it suits our farm well. Holsteins currently doing 10500 litres. Once they calve they are in at night but out in the day. Not as tight a calving block as we would like but probably due to yeilds. Housing full time varies depending on ground conditions but we try to keep them out as long as possible normally mid October. Try to avoid opening the silage clamp untill September. Started doing multi cut (5 cuts of silage which really suits our cows and farm). Come spring we try to graze them as much as possible out day and night until dry off. Up north and a very wet farm so not uncommon for them not get out until mid April and sometime have to house for a week or so in August. It works very well for our farm but must admit it won't suit everyone. Get the advantages of calving majority of the cows outside at grass, all heifer born in a tight block and can be managed as one, and calve them down at 2 (my grandfather started calving them at two decades ago), can focus on heat detection in September and get to focus on sorting field drains out and feild work in the spring.
This sounds like a good time to use Holsteins, housed a lot of the time, big litres.

If you are targetting 8000, a simpler system and more grazing than 5-6 months a year then i don't see why you would go down the Holstein route, there are other breeds which will give you 8000 litres and many other advantages over a Holstein on that system.
 

Jdunn55

Member
Read what the op put in his opening statement “ he wants a simple “ system he doesn’t want to be babysitting Holstein cows he wants a robust cow that’ll work for him rather than he working for it
Yes but holsteins will do that too!

To put it very simply (obviously more factors at play)
If you had a Jersey and a holstein and fed them the same, the holstein will do more litres but the Jersey will do more solids

On a solids contract go with the Jersey
On a liquids contract go with a holstein
The op is on a liquid contract!

Why do 6000 litres at 5% fat when you could do 8000 at 4.2% no problem, you're still only going to be paid for 3.8%??
 

cjbailey

Member
Livestock Farmer
This sounds like a good time to use Holsteins, housed a lot of the time, big litres.

If you are targetting 8000, a simpler system and more grazing than 5-6 months a year then i don't see why you would go down the Holstein route, there are other breeds which will give you 8000 litres and many other advantages over a Holstein on that system.
I would like a tight block and a dry period but not sure it would be possible with our yeilds grazing and not wanting to cull to many cows. Current calving interval is 385 which is ok for Holstein but makes a mess of trying to be a seasonal calving herd. Will have 8 cows out of 110 calving between January and July this year.
 

Jdunn55

Member
I'll add that I think crossbreeding in this situation is a good idea to add fertility and other health traits

I just think holsteins should be the base animal and I really don't think Jersey should be used in the cross

I'm going to bow out now before I make more trouble 🙈
 

Wesley

Member
Read what the op put in his opening statement “ he wants a simple “ system he doesn’t want to be babysitting Holstein cows he wants a robust cow that’ll work for him rather than he working for it
8000 litres is basically a Holstein on tickover. At those yields it would be a very simple system without having to babysit them. Its pushing the yields where the problems develop.
 

In the pit

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembrokeshire
I know of jersey cross herds doing 8000/8500 at 4.5 and 3.5 and maintaining a tight block
A lot of grazing Holstein herds use the grass not for grazing but for somewhere to lie down on cos there buffer is in the shed
I bet you could count on one hand the Holstein herds what are serious grazers
 

In the pit

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembrokeshire
8000 litres is basically a Holstein on tickover. At those yields it would be a very simple system without having to babysit them. Its pushing the yields where the problems develop.
Yes but they don’t just tick over do they ,they start to rev up so you give em a bit more cake and there increase the revs so a bit more cake and before you know it the treadmill is turning
 

cjbailey

Member
Livestock Farmer
Suppose could always select bulls based on autumn calving index instead of PLI. ACI is meant to be an across breed comparison, that is what is designed for. We have started looking at it on the Holstein bulls we select
 

DairyNerd

Member
Livestock Farmer
I would like a tight block and a dry period but not sure it would be possible with our yeilds grazing and not wanting to cull to many cows. Current calving interval is 385 which is ok for Holstein but makes a mess of trying to be a seasonal calving herd. Will have 8 cows out of 110 calving between January and July this year.

I think it is probably very hard to do, i don't have much practical experience with Holsteins but i think to be able to that would be having your cake and eating it...... At the end of the day there has to be a downside to that high production. I think there is definitely a place for high yielders to get more quality grazed grass in the diet to reduce costs though, and i think there will be a greater push for cows to graze for a proportion of the year.
 

sidjon

Member
Location
EXMOOR
Would high yielding Holstein cows block calve? I guess everything would have to be right.
Depending on how long your block is, know farm who are blocked autumn and start I July and finished on February on 8500 to 9000 ,their fertility is the reason, they do have jerseyx doing 7000 plus and calving on the same date every year.
 

Carlowmann

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Carlow Ireland
Yes but holsteins will do that too!

To put it very simply (obviously more factors at play)
If you had a Jersey and a holstein and fed them the same, the holstein will do more litres but the Jersey will do more solids

On a solids contract go with the Jersey
On a liquids contract go with a holstein
The op is on a liquid contract!

Why do 6000 litres at 5% fat when you could do 8000 at 4.2% no problem, you're still only going to be paid for 3.8%??
You've just described what i have and where i want to go to maybe i should aim as high in litres as i can but still have a reasonably good block calving.
Grazing early or late can't be relied on i can have everything set up nicely and a heavy thunderstorm upstream of me can cause severe flooding it doesn't even have to rain with me
Lots of grant aided land drainage done done upstream 20 to 30 years ago Bord of works increased the size of road bridge by adding a extra channel under the road at my place but the 5 bridges downstream are less than 60% in size and mine sometimes can't take it so in the space of few hours i can have 2 foot of water on half the farm , land is very flat and heavy clay , slow to dry out
 

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