Manage grass to optimise quality and quantity
This is a tough task where grass is scarce, as there will be a lot of competition for grass, between providing sufficient silage and grazing.
However, grass supplies are good on most farms this year.
The correct procedure should be followed for building up a supply of grass for autumn grazing from around mid-August.
This procedure is to allow grass to build up by gradually lengthening the rotation from about 22 days in mid-August to 35 days in late September, on pastures that have been tightly grazed or cut for silage or topped and treated with adequate nitrogen.
These pastures should get at least 50 units of N.
On wetter soils, care should be taken not to build up grass covers that cannot be grazed.
It is vitally important to manage the pastures in such a way as to optimise the quantity and quality of grazed grass for the remainder of the season.
Good autumn grazing management will reduce feed costs, labour requirements, housing and slurry storage requirements, and will improve animal performance and profitability.
For those who are measuring grass, the aim should be to have an average farm cover of 1,000kg/ha or 400 kg/cow, at a stocking rate of 2.5 cows/ha in late September.
At that stage, some paddocks may be approaching pre-grazing covers of 2,000kg/ha.
Heavier covers can result in poor quality grass and significant losses of feed.
Contrary to some advice, it will pay to feed some concentrates with autumn grass if your quota situation allows.
It will also pay to feed some supplements, if required, to build up sufficient grass for the autumn, because it is important to keep grass in the diet of cows for as long as possible.
Trials have shown that cereals on their own are not a good supplement to autumn grass, because they both break down too quickly in the rumen.
Purchasing a good balanced mix (high in fibre) from co-ops or other suppliers is probably the best option for most dairy farmers who will supplement cows on autumn grass.
While barley and wheat are excellent feeds in dairy rations, trials indicate that they are not the best concentrate to feed pure with autumn grass, as they break down quickly in the rumen.
However, if there is some silage or other roughage in the diet, they are a very good source of energy.
