Milk from Forage only 100% grass fed

[Dead Rabbits]

To avoid cluttering up other threads I started this one.

So if anyone is producing or has produced milk from 100% Forage I would like to hear from you. This would include the replacements and dry cows not being fed concentrate as well.

In the next year there is supposed to be a market for grassfed certified organic milk. This intrigues me, as the premium will be fairly significant at $40 US per cwt. Regular organic is 25-34 cwt and conventional is 16-18 cwt. I would like to to gather as much info as possible, even though obviously this is a very different climate, country, etc.

Concerns I have:
How do I get the mineral in lactating cows?
Can a replacement be grown in 2 years or less and get bred?
Will the cows get bred for seasonal calving?
Will the volume of milk produced be enough to cover costs?
Will OAD be pretty much mandatory?
How much extra stored Forage will be needed?

 

[Great In Grass]

Everyone is now busy trying to convert cwt to liters.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Yeah sorry about that, it's a bitch.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

The only one I can think of is Jonny Ryder. He milks about 500 crossbreds OAD.

His days in milk will be very low because doesn't start calving until the end of March and and will be dry by Christmas.

All calves are reared on nurse cows to calve down at 2

I think he's a big advocate of Mob type grazing but I've only met him once.

He's on a very lucrative organic cheese contract.

He makes very little silage, I think less than a ton a cow.

@TomB he's nearish you isn't he?

 

[Cows 'n grass]

http://www.pastureforlife.org/profile/P137/

 

[Dead Rabbits]

The only one I can think of is Jonny Ryder. He milks about 500 crossbreds OAD.

His days in milk will be very low because doesn't start calving until the end of March and and will be dry by Christmas.

All calves are reared on nurse cows to calve down at 2

I think he's a big advocate of Mob type grazing but I've only met him once.

He's on a very lucrative organic cheese contract.

He makes very little silage, I think less than a ton a cow.

@TomB he's nearish you isn't he?

Oddly enough I have heard of him. On my list of people to meet. Thanks for the link

 

[Cows 'n grass]

On the same website theres a bit about Mat Boley. He's also OAD and 100% pasture fed. He's also on the same very lucrative control as Jonny Ryder.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

So on my conversions. A cwt is approx 8.6 gallons. A gallon is 3.78 liters. 8.6x3.78= 32.51 liters per cwt. Does that look right?

 

[Agrispeed]

Just found this thread.

As I said previously I'm starting out in a new system (my own, sharefarming) which is grassfed and a bit different to the norm but based off previous grass fed farms I worked on,

This is an interesting system.

In short - you can get 5000l (1200USGal)if you have sh!t hot management, although you can get 3-500-4000l (1000USGal) with a lot less effort and probably healthier cows. There are people who do it AYR but realistically you want to at least be block calving in grass season. Fertility is not usually a problem as the volume is lower, but you do need the cows for the system, although herd heath was absolutely fantastic and made management very easy. we used to OAD milk anything that was a bit thin.

Stored forage isn't massively more than previously, as you are still limited by cows DMI. I've been grass fed beef for a while now, we were finishing cows at 22-24 months off grass, including AngusX dairy calves, so a heifer at 24 months is perfectly achiveable.

 

[Stinker]

So on my conversions. A cwt is approx 8.6 gallons. A gallon is 3.78 liters. 8.6x3.78= 32.51 liters per cwt. Does that look right?

1. 25 dollars a litre? Where do I sign up

 

[sidjon]

On the same website theres a bit about Mat Boley. He's also OAD and 100% pasture fed. He's also on the same very lucrative control as Jonny Ryder.

That's the two which come to my mind and there probably is a couple more OAD guys who are the same. More common in NZ than here.

 

[multi power]

So on my conversions. A cwt is approx 8.6 gallons. A gallon is 3.78 liters. 8.6x3.78= 32.51 liters per cwt. Does that look right?

Isn't a cwt 11 gallons, Imperial gallons that is, 4.45 litres per gallon

 

[Dead Rabbits]

I'm using US cwt which is 100 lbs. Us gallon is 3.789 liter. Why the hell do all these measurements exist. Let's throw stone in there too!

 

[multi power]

Remember the kiwis have been 100% grass fed for probably the last 100 years

 

[sidjon]

Remember the kiwis have been 100% grass fed for probably the last 100 years

And PKE???

 

[Kiwi Pete]

That's the two which come to my mind and there probably is a couple more OAD guys who are the same. More common in NZ than here.

Yep, most farms that I've been on have just been grass, grass and silage at the shoulders.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Remember the kiwis have been 100% grass fed for probably the last 100 years

As a percentage of farms over there, how many are left that feed no concentrate? PKE etc

 

[Kiwi Pete]

And PKE???

"monkey-killer??"

 

[multi power]

I'm using US cwt which is 100 lbs. Us gallon is 3.789 liter. Why the hell do all these measurements exist. Let's throw stone in there too!

A cwt here is 112 lbs, I've known about US gallons but never US cwt, mega confusing

 

[multi power]

As a percentage of farms over there, how many are left that feed no concentrate? PKE etc

@FonterraFarmer will know