Zero grazing.

[Jgs]

Have had to stop zero grazing the IRG and onto long term keys and FPDs are better, struggle to get over 515 on robots as it is so not much margin for error!

I was on IRG third time cutting it but just finished and onto a longer term ley now so hopefully it will improve but I think il need to do as @pappuller says and get the Keenan back out!

 

[pappuller]

I was on IRG third time cutting it but just finished and onto a longer term ley now so hopefully it will improve but I think il need to do as @pappuller says and get the Keenan back out!

Every farm is different, as I said over 50% fresh grass and the wheels start to wobble here, I've tried for 3 yrs to feed more grass, tried nis,chopped hay &straw but a small TMR seems to work best for me.

 

[pappuller]

Every farm is different, as I said over 50% fresh grass and the wheels start to wobble here, I've tried for 3 yrs to feed more grass, tried nis,chopped hay &straw but a small TMR seems to work best for me.

And I hate dirty cows which is what we always seemed to end up with.

 

[happycows]

Anyone else itching to get going?
New floor for the wagon on Monday.
I’m hoping it won’t be long now. No shortage of grass and I’m sure the cows are crying out for some Dr Green.

 

[Scholsey]

Anyone else itching to get going?
New floor for the wagon on Monday.
I’m hoping it won’t be long now. No shortage of grass and I’m sure the cows are crying out for some Dr Green.

Got a date with pick up reel tines and skinned knuckles next week, have light rain forecast on 5 days next week, if we miss most of those and dries well we could be going the following week.

Splitting grazing fields up with permanent single strand electric so first couple of days will be mowing and picking up where the fences are going, anyone regularly measure with a plate meter before zging?

 

[3rdgenerationdairyman]

Be a long time before wee are going here in Northern Ireland !!.. has any of you guys trouble getting cows in calve while on grass only ?

 

[happycows]

Be a long time before wee are going here in Northern Ireland !!.. has any of you guys trouble getting cows in calve while on grass only ?

No the complete opposite. 63 pd pos out of 65 on my Oct pd session. Zero vet fertility visits. Although when you say grass only I supplement with a good blend formulation to compliment grass.

 

[Suckndiesel]

Anyone else itching to get going?
New floor for the wagon on Monday.
I’m hoping it won’t be long now. No shortage of grass and I’m sure the cows are crying out for some Dr Green.

Managed to cut most of January, cut bugger all in February and just started cutting again there on Wednesday past, a lot of grass here left from backend of last year but ground conditions aren’t great

 

[3rdgenerationdairyman]

No the complete opposite. 63 pd pos out of 65 on my Oct pd session. Zero vet fertility visits. Although when you say grass only I supplement with a good blend formulation to compliment grass.

Wee found it near enough impossible.. wee were cutting stuff with no stem the hole time tho and feeding 18%protein nut threw the parlour

 

[Scholsey]

Wee found it near enough impossible.. wee were cutting stuff with no stem the hole time tho and feeding 18%protein nut threw the parlour

It’s always a struggle here, got a new plan for this year to try and counter it.

 

[3rdgenerationdairyman]

It’s always a struggle here, got a new plan for this year to try and counter it.

What's that?

 

[Scholsey]

What's that?

panic

 

[happycows]

Wee found it near enough impossible.. wee were cutting stuff with no stem the hole time tho and feeding 18%protein nut threw the parlour

Again I do it differently. I like to leave it for some stem favouring better rumen function and solids over out and out yield.
Also have no problem dropping the protein big time. Bit of soya for quality bypass protein is all I use. Really good amount of grain maize, sugar beet, soya hulls too soak up that protein in the grass and if desperate can top dress the grass with 1/2kgs of nis.

You can see ryegrass seed heads on this.
As long as there’s still plenty of leaf I’m ok with that but you need to be prepared to go in and knock it off and bale it if you struggle to keep up with too much growth.

 

[Suckndiesel]

Wee found it near enough impossible.. wee were cutting stuff with no stem the hole time tho and feeding 18%protein nut threw the parlour

We have been feeding a 14% protein nut at 3 to 4kg here the last few years when on the short leafy grass, don’t have a problem getting cows to go in calf. One big problem we do have when feeding short leafy grass is cows getting stomach ulcers. Anyone else have that problem?

 

[Llmmm]

Every farm is different, as I said over 50% fresh grass and the wheels start to wobble here, I've tried for 3 yrs to feed more grass, tried nis,chopped hay &straw but a small TMR seems to work best for me.

This might seem like a stupid question but can fresh zero grazed grass be mixed in a tmr or do they have to be fed seperately id imagine fresh grass would heat and be too bulky for wagon

 

[pappuller]

This might seem like a stupid question but can fresh zero grazed grass be mixed in a tmr or do they have to be fed seperately id imagine fresh grass would heat and be too bulky for wagon

It can be done but the mix will heat up if left over 12 hrs at the barrier.
Zero grazed grass is better fed fresh and a mix fed separately in my experience

 

[Llmmm]

It can be done but the mix will heat up if left over 12 hrs at the barrier.
Zero grazed grass is better fed fresh and a mix fed separately in my experience

What is the tmr mix your feeding your cows and what percentage grass are you feeding i currently graze but one thing that concerns me is loose cows and low intake trying to maintain pasture quality.Ive often thought of building a small unit with a robot and housing on sand which is free on the farm

 

[pappuller]

What is the tmr mix your feeding your cows and what percentage grass are you feeding i currently graze but one thing that concerns me is loose cows and low intake trying to maintain pasture quality.Ive often thought of building a small unit with a robot and housing on sand which is free on the farm

We stopped zero grazing last summer and switched to full TMR which is where we have stayed. We have part exed our zero grazing machine for a pottinger forage wagon to bring our silage making in house and possibly feed some grass later in the season.
We have fed grass for 3 yrs but have struggled keeping the cows clean and keeping condition on their backs so have switched back to TMR.

 

[pappuller]

What is the tmr mix your feeding your cows and what percentage grass are you feeding i currently graze but one thing that concerns me is loose cows and low intake trying to maintain pasture quality.Ive often thought of building a small unit with a robot and housing on sand which is free on the farm

We are currently feeding 65/35 maize/grass silage. Brewers grains and a small quantity of high protein blend, with nuts fed in the robot.

 

[Llmmm]

We stopped zero grazing last summer and switched to full TMR which is where we have stayed. We have part exed our zero grazing machine for a pottinger forage wagon to bring our silage making in house and possibly feed some grass later in the season.
We have fed grass for 3 yrs but have struggled keeping the cows clean and keeping condition on their backs so have switched back to TMR.

What your doing sounds a simpler solution to zerograzing as the costs of harvesting the grass apart from plastic would be similar i would think the high quality silage would be more consistent to zero grazed grass but would the fresh grass be higher quality as ive found no matter how good of silage i make fresh grass beats it but maybe im wrong