Key Decisions this week:
• Feed:
Based on residuals from the last couple of paddocks in each farmlet the inshed feeding has been removed from the Std FB and reduced to 1 kg DM/ha for all other herds. Kale herds are back on a 70:30 PKE: barley blend and the LI FB on PKE only.
o 1 paddock in each of the standard farmlet was identified as surplus on Thursday and mown for baleage and will be baled before the weekend.
o Nitrogen applications will resume this week to the std farmlets at an application rate of 25kgs N/ha as N protect after 3 weeks of not being applied.
o New grass paddocks in all farmlets that have been grazed will have N applied at a rate of 30kgN/ha as N Protect.
• Milk Production
o Relative to this time last year daily milk solids production is lower and is declining rather than increasing.
o Pasture samples taken this week returned crude protein contents between 11 and 16%, a drop from the 16-20% range observed in December. This lower pasture crude protein may be contributing to the decline in milk solids production.
• Wintering:
o The first cut of baleage will be taken off the Italian paddocks this week. These paddocks & the supplement they produce will be used for grass and baleage wintering this year.
o Several of the buffer zones in the crop paddocks that have been planted out in Italians will also be cut for baleage this week. Multipurpose buffer zones!!
o Nitrogen will be applied to the Italian paddocks at a rate of 80kgN Protect/ha.
o Nitrogen will also be applied to the crop paddocks that have reached canopy closure over the next week as weather allows.
o Spray contractors are due as soon as conditions allow to spray the crop paddocks for grass and weeds.
o To prevent the contractors from spraying our grass buffers in the crop paddocks these areas have been entered as exclusion zones in the mapping software.
• Animals:
o The bulls have been removed from the herds this week with 10 bulls going straight from the paddock onto the truck. Of the remaining 8, 2 are slightly lame and will be checked by the vet to determine if they are fit for transport.
o The calves were weighed this week, with 80% of the mob weighing over 120kgs. Across the 208 calves, the average weight gain per day since weaning has been 0.73kg/day. For the 12 calves that were weaned off milk last, they have been growing at 0.99kg per day since weaning.
o With the amount of clover on the platform, bloat oil is still going through the dosatron.
• People
o The farm team visited Tim Watt’s farm near Riverton this week to gain an understanding of how different systems manage tasks day to day as well as learning how Tim delegates jobs out to his team. Thanks for the visit, Tim!
• Research
o Quarterly animal sampling was completed this week with blood, urine, faeces, and milk samples sent away from
o Several of the farm team did the pasture calibration walk with the technicians this week. By doing this, it allows us to discuss and debate the plate meter and visual estimates in a range of paddocks to ensure everyone on the farm is assessing pasture the same way.
o Relative to December there has been a decrease in ME in the LI pastures
o For all farmlets there has been a decrease in crude protein but an increase in dry matter, lignin and non-structural carbohydrates
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