Extending grazing rotations

[DairyNerd]

Interested in when and how people extend rotation to maximise days at grass in the Autumn. We aim to keep grazing until dry off on 20th December. The 'how' is more for interest as we don't have a huge amount of options; no silage or youngstock block to bring in later on so we end up doing a mixture of going OAD, increasing pre grazing covers and AFC in periods of good growth and feeding silage/buffer when necessary later on. I know conventional wisdom is start building cover from early September but interested when people start or if you do at all? I know there are lots of resources online about this from Teagasc/Dairy NZ but I'm interested in variations between farms and what you do on a practical level. We are currently on a 30 day round with AFC at 2125 which I feel is a touch low, growth has been low but taking off now after significant rain so I have cut silage out, hoping we continue to get some warm weather.

 

[Bangoverthebar]

In ireland so we calculate covers different than in UK. The key to extending grazing is simple. You must reduce your stocking rate and therefore your daily demand for grass.
I'm stocked at 4lu/ha from Feb 1st to Aug 15th. Mid August I start to zerograze out blocks and this reduces my stocking rate. Some people graze silage ground attached to grazing platform, some buffer with silage.

I'm aiming for an afc of 1100 by mid Sept and then I won't be as reliant on Zero grazing.

I aim to house fully at an afc of 750, this gives me an opening cover of 1000/1100 most years. Having a large amount of grass on the farm in feb is way more important than extending grazing. I'd rather house earlier than compromise Feb grass. I aim to be fully housed by November 21st. But it all depends how my afc is.
I start closing paddocks on Oct 1st.

 

[In the pit]

In ireland so we calculate covers different than in UK. The key to extending grazing is simple. You must reduce your stocking rate and therefore your daily demand for grass.
I'm stocked at 4lu/ha from Feb 1st to Aug 15th. Mid August I start to zerograze out blocks and this reduces my stocking rate. Some people graze silage ground attached to grazing platform, some buffer with silage.

I'm aiming for an afc of 1100 by mid Sept and then I won't be as reliant on Zero grazing.

I aim to house fully at an afc of 750, this gives me an opening cover of 1000/1100 most years. Having a large amount of grass on the farm in feb is way more important than extending grazing. I'd rather house earlier than compromise Feb grass. I aim to be fully housed by November 21st. But it all depends how my afc is.
I start closing paddocks on Oct 1st.

So you’re 0 will be 1500 so afc will be 750 for you would be 2250 in uk

 

[In the pit]

What I’ve done in the past is go 60 days from the first day of your last round say 10 oct ,,so dry off 10 dec and graze paddocks that I want to use first in the spring and just top cows up with silage if there is a shortfall of grass .pd your cows and get rid of any empties or cull cows as said to reduce demand and grass cover should increase to allow more use of grass and less silage

 

[easy farming]

What I’ve done in the past is go 60 days from the first day of your last round say 10 oct ,,so dry off 10 dec and graze paddocks that I want to use first in the spring and just top cows up with silage if there is a shortfall of grass .pd your cows and get rid of any empties or cull cows as said to reduce demand and grass cover should increase to allow more use of grass and less silage

The earlier you can get rid of your culls, the easier it is to manage Autumn grass. Too many keep them too long trying to raise average daily yield for seasonality. Or think that they will put condition on and so be worth more in the fat. Neither really cost effective.

 

[frederick]

Interested in when and how people extend rotation to maximise days at grass in the Autumn. We aim to keep grazing until dry off on 20th December. The 'how' is more for interest as we don't have a huge amount of options; no silage or youngstock block to bring in later on so we end up doing a mixture of going OAD, increasing pre grazing covers and AFC in periods of good growth and feeding silage/buffer when necessary later on. I know conventional wisdom is start building cover from early September but interested when people start or if you do at all? I know there are lots of resources online about this from Teagasc/Dairy NZ but I'm interested in variations between farms and what you do on a practical level. We are currently on a 30 day round with AFC at 2125 which I feel is a touch low, growth has been low but taking off now after significant rain so I have cut silage out, hoping we continue to get some warm weather.

With an AFC of only 2150 at what is basically mid September the last thing you want to do at the moment is stop feeding silage now.
I'm no spring grazer as an autumn looking to house I am trying to achieve the opposite of you.
But if my memory serves me correct you want to be extending the round immediately to something like 45 days. Should be taking AFC to north of 2500 by the time growth is less than demand.

Do you have agrinet running an autumn budget on it would help.

Because grass grows grass that is why feeding silage for the next fortnight is one of the most helpful things you can do.

 

[Kiss]

Your Arla? wack the cake in chase them B litres plenty of good value options for feed

We would of usually started selling empties etc but no plan to for at least 3 weeks currently, we usually struggle to grow this time of year because of dry summers so house half the herd early and milk the early calvers as long as conditions/grass allows

Feeding earlier is much easier to build stock than feeding later when growth rates are lower!

 

[Farmer Keith]

If you can’t bring extra land into the platform you should of been building covers long before now, it’s going to be almost impossible to build cover from 2150 significantly especially given that it’s cooling down already. We look to start building around mid August, it is easier here though as half the cows are dry at that point but our silage ground is all off platform so the shoulders of the season are a challenge. We’re sitting at 2891 now and won’t feed silage until we drop to 2400-2500 ish.

I like the simplicity of the graze 60% of the platform in October and 40% in November model.

We’ve grazed into December before but now I’m minded to make 30th November the last day at grass, it’s more hassle than it’s worth setting breaks and doing all the housed jobs at the same time.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I don't know what the right answer is but I'm currently on a 30 day round and from October 1st I will do 2 X 40 day rounds and then house. I will start feeding silage at the same time and the diet will be roughly 1/3 silage on the first longer round and 2/3 silage on the final round.

I wouldn't ever go beyond 40 because you run a higher risk of some serious poaching if it turns wet.

We've had a pretty easy summer this side of Devon, I still grew 49 last week and have an average cover of 2700.

I'm ARLA and to boost my season litres I'm tempted to feed some more cake but at the moment I'm seeing quite a bit of rust creeping in the all higher covers so I need cows to have a good appetite and clean out all the diseased grass.

 

[som farmer]

today seems more like mid november, dry cows and y/s going mad for a bit of hay.

milkers getting 30kg of buffer, and still looking for more today. Got to be careful with the fancy hols, they need filling up, looking a bit hollow, need roughage, 3hg hay in the ration now.

and its no good listening to the weather forecast, they keep changing it.

 

[In the pit]

today seems more like mid november, dry cows and y/s going mad for a bit of hay.

milkers getting 30kg of buffer, and still looking for more today. Got to be careful with the fancy hols, they need filling up, looking a bit hollow, need roughage, 3hg hay in the ration now.

and its no good listening to the weather forecast, they keep changing it.

I’d house them if I were you feeding all that,,your ryegrass has probaly died of in the drought anyway

 

[som farmer]

I’d house them if I were you feeding all that,,your ryegrass has probaly died of in the drought anyway

no, we have been blessed this year, nearly to much rain, herbal leys lovely bite of clover etc, trouble is, goes straight through the cows.

it isn't what the cows eats, so much as what stays in the cow, that's the important bit. Plantain has sent up seed heads, but leaf's are still lush, bit of protein, and some fibre, all on one plant.

 

[jimmer]

I'll feed silage according to bcs
Keep grazing till ground conditions don't allow
Fert on mid Feb will mean adequate grass mid March when number calved and grazing demand rises

 

[DairyNerd]

With an AFC of only 2150 at what is basically mid September the last thing you want to do at the moment is stop feeding silage now.
I'm no spring grazer as an autumn looking to house I am trying to achieve the opposite of you.
But if my memory serves me correct you want to be extending the round immediately to something like 45 days. Should be taking AFC to north of 2500 by the time growth is less than demand.

Do you have agrinet running an autumn budget on it would help.

Because grass grows grass that is why feeding silage for the next fortnight is one of the most helpful things you can do.

I do use agrinet, used to do one every year but have got out of the habit. I think you make a good point, we graze the platform down fairly hard as don't start calving until March 1st. It is an early and dry farm so spring grass is not normally an issue.

 

[DairyNerd]

If you can’t bring extra land into the platform you should of been building covers long before now, it’s going to be almost impossible to build cover from 2150 significantly especially given that it’s cooling down already. We look to start building around mid August, it is easier here though as half the cows are dry at that point but our silage ground is all off platform so the shoulders of the season are a challenge. We’re sitting at 2891 now and won’t feed silage until we drop to 2400-2500 ish.

I like the simplicity of the graze 60% of the platform in October and 40% in November model.

We’ve grazed into December before but now I’m minded to make 30th November the last day at grass, it’s more hassle than it’s worth setting breaks and doing all the housed jobs at the same time.

Fair point, we dry up quick so grass growth is normally slow July/August, we would struggle to build anything much in August in a normal year.

 

[Farmer Keith]

Fair point, we dry up quick so grass growth is normally slow July/August, we would struggle to build anything much in August in a normal year.

Ah fair enough, your climate is maybe better suited to building covers in September, what’s your stocking rate on platform, we’re getting on for 4cows/ha at this time of year compared with less than 3 early August.

 

[DairyNerd]

Ah fair enough, your climate is maybe better suited to building covers in September, what’s your stocking rate on platform, we’re getting on for 4cows/ha at this time of year compared with less than 3 early August.

3 cows a hectare year round. Whole farm is grazed and surplus bales made. Our cows also have a long dry period so I'm happy to drop condition a bit now so can graze them fairly tight on OAD.

 

[More to life]

I thought it was standard forum theory that winter covers were only for northerners. Clean it right out as grass grows all winter.

 

[Spudley]

We've started feeding a couple of bales at afternoon milking, yesterday the cows were stood in the gate at 11 am and this morning they've gone out, run around the field, and are shouting at the gate before 9 am. Honestly.

 

[Sylution]

We've started feeding a couple of bales at afternoon milking, yesterday the cows were stood in the gate at 11 am and this morning they've gone out, run around the field, and are shouting at the gate before 9 am. Honestly.

Opening the clamp today. Have not fed silage since April, but they need some belly fill, so housed tonight. Made a mess last night, and not looking good today also. Try to avoid silage feeding as long as possible, or they behave like you describe. Can't blame them relly. Annoying now as from next Tuesday looks like summer is returning.