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Livestock
Dairy Farming
Autumn calving cow milk yields
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<blockquote data-quote="DairyNerd" data-source="post: 8146029" data-attributes="member: 168926"><p>The argument about diluting winter housing costs is widespread and I always find it interesting. You can have pretty low costs with the right cows and set up block calving any time IMO. The key always is low machinery costs and a winter as short as your farm allows, keeping grass in the diet at every opportunity. </p><p></p><p>If your ground is all in one block I would favour all grass. Not sure where you are in the country but ideally you need to turn out early, get round silage ground by mid-March and cut in late-April/early May to make quality grass silage, that should be possible with the demand you have at that time but it is vital. Feed parlour cake post calving until end of service then decrease it as soon as you dare in the early Spring. I think crossbreds are a must on this system, I would target 500-550kg, they will hold conditon better. Reduce cake as soon as grass is in the diet and cut them off completely once you have the grass to do so. Target 6000L from as little cake as possible. </p><p></p><p>If you have off-ground I would consider Maize, still target 6000L but you should be reducing concentrate input as mix of forages should increase intakes.</p><p></p><p>I would also say most importantly make sure you run a system you enjoy, the above would just be my preference.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DairyNerd, post: 8146029, member: 168926"] The argument about diluting winter housing costs is widespread and I always find it interesting. You can have pretty low costs with the right cows and set up block calving any time IMO. The key always is low machinery costs and a winter as short as your farm allows, keeping grass in the diet at every opportunity. If your ground is all in one block I would favour all grass. Not sure where you are in the country but ideally you need to turn out early, get round silage ground by mid-March and cut in late-April/early May to make quality grass silage, that should be possible with the demand you have at that time but it is vital. Feed parlour cake post calving until end of service then decrease it as soon as you dare in the early Spring. I think crossbreds are a must on this system, I would target 500-550kg, they will hold conditon better. Reduce cake as soon as grass is in the diet and cut them off completely once you have the grass to do so. Target 6000L from as little cake as possible. If you have off-ground I would consider Maize, still target 6000L but you should be reducing concentrate input as mix of forages should increase intakes. I would also say most importantly make sure you run a system you enjoy, the above would just be my preference. [/QUOTE]
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