Herd Tasks: Your weekly farming checklist
Continue fertiliser application once paddocks are grazed. One unit per day is all swards can use once sufficient N has been applied already this year.
- Continue fertiliser application once paddocks are grazed. One unit per day is all swards can use once sufficient N has been applied already this year.
- Remember that by the end of June, two-thirds of the grass will have grown on the farm for the year, so two-thirds of the nitrogen should also be out by then. Grow grass when it is growing.
- Animals on grass since March will potentially be due for their first dose soon.
- Use diagnostic tools and historical records.
- Assess parlour concentrate and supplementary feed requirements, and in many cases, the regulation 14% is insufficient. Proteins are low in grass at present and this is reflected in many low milk urea levels and cows' yields dropping off.
- Feed enough to cover cal mag and mineral requirements.
- Feeding to yield for cows and heifers always pays.
- Transition cows down off higher feed rates slowly, and if yield drops, then you have reduced supplementation too far, too fast.
- Base your feeding decisions on your farm, your herd and your cows. Underfeeding cows in an effort to save money is never good advice!
- Monitor yield, solids and particularly lactose and protein to establish if they are getting and utilising sufficient energy from grass and concentrates allocated.
- If butter fats drop, it’s a fibre intake and digestion issue.
- Grazing excessively high covers will reduce intakes of fibre and energy as cows get very selective and walk a lot between bites.
- Continue to supplement suckled cows at grass with magnesium to prevent tetany — bucket licks or add to water.
- Where creep is being fed outside, ensure birds are not soiling the feed.
- Watch later-born calves to ensure they are drinking from their mothers.
- Keep up heat detection — recording accurate dates makes management a lot easier around calving.
- Breeding heifers on grass should be supplemented with a good-quality calf or beef mineral bucket to aid fertility performance.
- Don’t feed high-protein meal to finishers on grass; they require energy to finish, and excess protein will slow down weight gain and the laying down of fat.
