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HubWatch – 30 May 2025

General

  • Thats a wrap for the 2024-25 season. It was nice to have a strong end to the season after such at difficult start. While milk production was 8% back on last year (which was a record season for the farm) supply to the factory was 3 kg MS short of 319000 for the season and the third highest season production since the farm was converted.

  • Final 2.5 paddocks were aerated this week.

Standard herd

  • All cows dried off on the 23rd May then rotated through recently grazed paddocks with hay and silage to aid the dry down process.

  • Early dries from the support block joined the rest of the mob on Saturday.

  • Transitioning onto swedes started on Sunday with cows being offered 2 kg DM swedes and the rest of the diet as pasture, hay and straw in a pasture paddock.

  • Currently up to 6 kg DM/cow/day of swedes and staying in their crop paddocks; target of 10 kg DM swedes and 4 kg baleage.

  • With wet weather in the forecast and being seven days into transition, we have decided to skip the 8 kg DM step and offer 10 kg DM swedes with additional baleage overnight from tomorrow. This will increase the break size and hopefully provide better lying conditions.

  • R2's are still at the support block on pasture and will head to the milking platform in about 10 days to begin their transitioning onto swedes.

  • Had an unexpected death in the R2's this week - autopsy identifed heart failure as the cause.

  • Closing APC is about 100 kg DM/ha above the target of 1950.

Future herd

  • All cows dried off on the 27th May and have been rotated through recently grazed paddocks with hay and silage to aid the dry down process; Two cases of mastitis have been detected since dry off, both in Teatseal only cows.

  • Cows being drafted into their wintering mobs today and will start on their bale feeding regime with one mob set up at 15T DM baleage per ha (67 bales/ha) and the other at 10 T DM baleage/ha (44 bales/ha) and both on 2 day shifts.

  • R2's at the support block are on their baleage wintering regime set up at 10T DM/ha and 2 day shifts.

  • APC on Tuesday was 200 kg DM above target but cows were still grazing the milking platform.