Latest News & Announcements

• Managing Autumn Grass
  

  In fertilising the grazing sward until close out it is important to not apply the 27 to 35 units per acre as straight nitrogen. This will result in protein readings of 22% to 27% which a significant excess of the requirements for 16 to 23 litres of milk per cow per day. Read more

• Heat Stress Update
  

  Heat Stress Update Over the past week temperatures have risen to 28ᵒC on farm. Cows are just lying down and not grazing in the afternoon resulting in a drop in dry matter intake and milk yield. The issue: the cows need shade, where cows are brought in at 2pm the observation is that cows are taking up to 20 minutes to cool down and then graze the buffer. Leave them have access to the cubicles to lie down and ruminate. They are grazing out their full buffer allocation, where they are brought in around 4 pm they are only grazing approximately 1/3 of buffer allocation before evening milking. Read more

• Dry Spell Management
  

  The weather for the last four weeks is impacting on grass growth where adequate covers per hectare are creating a management challenge. Farmers are trying to maintain rotations of 16 to 19 depending on the soil type, moisture and the dry matter intake for the production. To maintain this buffer, feeding has started with 4Kg DM to 7Kg DM preferably fed before evening milking indoors as the cows will have shade and will consume more. Water availability is critical in keeping the cow cool and maintaining dry matter intake. Read more