cpsf
Member
Hi Folks.
This is a bit of a read but I'd appreciate it if you keep reading! Thanks!
As we all know this spring is a difficult one in terms of grass not growing. I'm stuck in a situation of not sure what to do for the best therefore here is my situation.
Due to the dry weather my grazing ground for the dairy cows hasn't been growing much and I'm low on fresh spring grass to graze. Half of my silage fields had sheep on them in the winter and haven't grown much either (which makes me worry about not having much silage to put into the clamp). Sheep isn't a big issue usually but because of the poor season it's become more of an issue. One group of sheep and lambs are also low on grazing grass and are currently being fed silage in the field and the lambs are on creep.
**The one thing I do have is plenty of 3rd cut round bale silage from August/September 2020!**
So what do I do? Do I give up 2 of my silage fields so the cows and sheep and lambs get to graze fresh spring stuff to get the milk to rise (as it has dropped) and for these lambs (12 week old lambs) finish growing and fatten better, or do I try and save the silage fields and I continue to feed the cows and sheep on this third cut round bale? If I do give up 2 silage fields then I'll still have my 3rd cut bales left over, what would I do with that? Because I presume the longer you keep it the poorer the product becomes?
Many thanks in advance for any advice and tips on what you folks would do!
This is a bit of a read but I'd appreciate it if you keep reading! Thanks!
As we all know this spring is a difficult one in terms of grass not growing. I'm stuck in a situation of not sure what to do for the best therefore here is my situation.
Due to the dry weather my grazing ground for the dairy cows hasn't been growing much and I'm low on fresh spring grass to graze. Half of my silage fields had sheep on them in the winter and haven't grown much either (which makes me worry about not having much silage to put into the clamp). Sheep isn't a big issue usually but because of the poor season it's become more of an issue. One group of sheep and lambs are also low on grazing grass and are currently being fed silage in the field and the lambs are on creep.
**The one thing I do have is plenty of 3rd cut round bale silage from August/September 2020!**
So what do I do? Do I give up 2 of my silage fields so the cows and sheep and lambs get to graze fresh spring stuff to get the milk to rise (as it has dropped) and for these lambs (12 week old lambs) finish growing and fatten better, or do I try and save the silage fields and I continue to feed the cows and sheep on this third cut round bale? If I do give up 2 silage fields then I'll still have my 3rd cut bales left over, what would I do with that? Because I presume the longer you keep it the poorer the product becomes?
Many thanks in advance for any advice and tips on what you folks would do!