Compact Feeding

[Bald Rick]

Had a day out and went to a talk & farm visit on compact feeding where the blend is pre-soaked in water for a time (eg overnight) at 1:1 then mixed with grass silage so it adheres to the stems and cows cannot sort.
All sorts of claims being made for it so I was wondering if anyone was trying it and if you are, what results you're getting

 

[pappuller]

This something done in denmark,where the mix is very heavily processed and water added ?

 

[Beef farmer]

.........extra work .........

 

[Bald Rick]

This something done in denmark,where the mix is very heavily processed and water added ?

Yes, they have been doing it since 2012 and have seen uplifts in yield of 1-2000 litres/lactation
Got to be worth trying although i have my doubts as to whether we can make dry enough silage on a regular basis here

 

[More to life]

Yes, they have been doing it since 2012 and have seen uplifts in yield of 1-2000 litres/lactation
Got to be worth trying although i have my doubts as to whether we can make dry enough silage on a regular basis here

From what I've seen best results are from year round consistency which doesn't give much flexibility in the feed market.

 

[More to life]

.........extra work .........

Plenty of time with robots














Sorry Rick

 

[Bald Rick]

Plenty of time with robots














Sorry Rick

My first "day" away from the farm in months and the alarm only rang 3 times .............

 

[pappuller]

.........extra work .........

If I overprocess my mix my cows soon tell me where to shove it........................


















Usually into the muck midden.

 

[Beef farmer]

Yes, they have been doing it since 2012 and have seen uplifts in yield of 1-2000 litres/lactation
Got to be worth trying although i have my doubts as to whether we can make dry enough silage on a regular basis here

That extra production will need more energy,

 

[More to life]

That extra production will need more energy,

I think you get better feed conversation but the job just feels wrong to me .

 

[Bald Rick]

That extra production will need more energy,

Apparently not. The Danes havent changed their rations but the cows spend longer on their beds and don't rush to the feed face when it is put out. Can also reduce cake in the parlour too.
Extra work yes but might be worth a go as cannot "over" mix as it doesnt matter if the mix is smashed up

 

[Milkcow365]

Tried and failed here,more my fault it wasn't a success I do all the feeding myself so I like it simple and this added an extra hour on to my 40minute feeding routine so I wasn't happy

 

[Crusty]

Been compact feeding of sorts since Xmas and our herd performance has improved hugely in the last year. I think it's the future for diets in the UK but it's not for everyone

 

[rusty]

When I was in Denmark most farms had a mixer wagon big menough to do the whole herd in one load. Visited 3 farms with a 45m3 wagon, miked between 300-500 cows each! Compact feeding would be much easier logistically if only having to mix one big load a day. I am currently doing 4 loads a day, about half an hour for each load. Compact feeding likely to make this much longer.

 

[Whitepeak]

I'm sure there was a piece in the FG about a chap near us trying it, not that long ago. @rusty will probably know him

 

[Horn&corn]

We tried this for a while in the summer when it was one mix a day but winter is 4-5 per day and it’s not v easy. Didn’t find any yield difference when we stopped but might be different with no grazing in the winter. Liked the lack of sorting and therefore consistency of feeding. Wish I could accurately pre soak straights without it having to be sat in Mixer

 

[dannewhouse]

can you not add the water either last or 1st to the mixer? rather than pre soaking

would it be worth chopping silage shorter in forager for a system like this? do you have to mix for longer so it chops?

need a fast flow of water so not waiting long.

benefit don't need as much feed space? it nearly like feeding adlib?

 

[Crusty]

can you not add the water either last or 1st to the mixer? rather than pre soaking

would it be worth chopping silage shorter in forager for a system like this? do you have to mix for longer so it chops?

need a fast flow of water so not waiting long.

benefit don't need as much feed space? it nearly like feeding adlib?

No you need to pre soak the concentrate for atleast an hour but ideally 12hrs. The aim is to make a kind of porridge which pretty much eliminates sorting in our experience. Yes chopping the forage shorter would definitely be beneficial if your going to try compact feeding but more important is that you make dry silage in my opinion. We mix/chop our diet for about an hr and 15mins including loading time and we're not processing it really short but we feed all round bales so we're starting off from a long unprocessed forage

 

[Yazzie]

I'm sure there was a piece in the FG about a chap near us trying it, not that long ago. @rusty will probably know him

If you google compact feeding dairy cows an article from FG comes up about John Cartledge, Peaslow Farm, Buxton.

 

[jondear]

That extra production will need more energy,

And if you all do it and it works a crapper milk price!