2017/18 Season HUB Weekly Farm Update as at 27th February 2018
FarmTune ‘Red Tag Area’ identified in the workshop for all those bits of equipment that need consideration for future use – all in one spot!
General comments
Very good Autumn grass growth has lifted APC over 2600kgDM/ha and the farm team have dropped out all supplements apart from 300gms/Cow/day PKE:Barley mix in the shed.
Residuals are starting to be harder to control and target at 1600kgDM/ha. The R2 heifers are now home for pregnancy testing and are being used to drop residuals to the target where possible.
Critical Targets this week
- Pregnancy test herd re-checks
- Pregnancy test R2 heifers
Herd & Production
Four herds split evenly on age, BW / PW and on the winter crop trial treatment groups to ensure the herds are as even as possible. Each herd allocated a farmlet corresponding to their herd tag colour Green, Blue, Yellow and Pink. Farmlets have paddocks allocated so each herd has equal walking distance from the shed and the same proportion of each soil type and equal proportions of pastures in the FVI trial (forage value trial – refer web site section on research).
Staph Aureus has been identified in approximately 40 cows at The Hub. A high bulk SCC and cows not reacting quickly to treatment encouraged investigation leading to this diagnosis. Infected cows have drafted out and are being milked last to prevent the spread of this infection.
Table 1: Herd & Production
| Herds on Milking Platform | Unit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Milkers - 3 in 2 | cows | 620 |
| Milkers - OAD | cows | 0 |
| Colostrum | cows | 0 |
| Springers | cows | 0 |
| Sick mob (1 x penicillin, In the vat: 2 x lames and 28 x HSCC cows) All but 4 in vat | cows | 31 |
| Culls / deaths | cows | 0 |
| Current Stocking Rate (platform) | cows/ha | 2.6 |
| 651 | ||
| Production (to the factory) (28/02/18) | ||
| Total Milksolids (YTD) | kgMS | 198,817 |
| Total Milksolids (MTD) | kgMS | 26,568 |
| Total Milksolids (last 7 days) | kgMS | 6,685 |
| Average per cow daily production (last 7 days) | kgMS/cow/day | 1.55 |
| Per ha production (last 7 days) | kgMS/ha | 4.03 |
| Other (to the factory) | ||
| Protein:Fat Ratio (7-day avg.) | % | 0.79 |
| Milk Urea (7-day avg.) | mg/dl | 33.02 |
| SCC (7-day avg.) | cells/ml | 111,000 |
| Fat Evaluation Index (FEI) | A | |
| Fonterra 17/18 Forecast - as at 7th Dec 17 | $/kgMS | $6.40 |
Feed Management
The four herds are to remain on their allocated farmlets at all times. The 2017/18 season aim is to feed all cows in a similar manner all season. Any differences to be recorded. Decision rules for Cows of BCS 4 or less are that they can be fed extra supplement in the shed as required by the farm team and be milked OAD but will remain in their allocated herds for research purposes. The concentrate in the shed is a 50:50 mix of PKE and barley.
Notes
R1 heifers are behind a wire rotating around the platform, no supplements offered.
R2 heifers on the platform this week ready for pregnancy testing
As APC has lifted supplements offered has dropped –
Supplements being offered to all cows are currently:
- 300gms
At these rates of PKE we are still recording a FEI target of A.
Table 2: Feed Offered
| Unit | ||
|---|---|---|
| Milkers – Pasture offered | kgDM/cow/day | 17 |
| Milkers - Fodder Beet | kgDM/cow/day | 0 |
| Milkers - Pasture Silage | kgDM/cow/day | 0 |
| Milkers - Concentrates – 3 in 2 Cows (shed) | kgDM/cow/day | 300gm per day |
| Milkers - Concentrates – 3 in 2 Cows (pdk) | kgDM/cow/day | |
| Milkers - Concentrates - OAD Cows | kgDM/cow/day | 0 |
Land, Pasture, Crop & Silage Management
Total area is 327ha(eff), 32.5ha(eff) young stock block and 294ha(eff) platform. Winter crop is grown on both blocks for all stock. Crop rotation is two years in crop then re-grass. PGG Wrightson grass cultivars used are Rely, Platform and Excess, all diploids. Where target residuals are missed, topping after grazing is the tool the farm team use as needed.
Table 3: Land, Pasture, Crop & Silage Metrics
| Unit | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pre - Graze cover target | kgDM/ha | 2700 |
| Post - Graze cover target | kgDM/ha | 1500 |
| Average Pasture Cover (avg. over 4 farmlets) | kgDM/ha | 2610 |
| Growth Rate (avg. over 4 farmlets) | kgDM/ha/day | 95 |
| Rotation Length (avg. over 4 farmlets) | days | 29 |
| Area Available for grazing (milkers) | ha | 253 |
| Regrassing Area (out of rotation) | ha | 0 |
| Baleage/Silage Area (out of rotation) | ha | 0 |
| Crop Area (out of rotation) | ha | 46 |
| Aeration Area | ha | 0.0 |
| Total platform effective | ha | 300 |
| Young Stock (not included in rotation) | ha | 29.0 |
BCS due next week
Table 4: Fertiliser & Nitrogen Metrics
| Nitrogen (Urea only)(last 7 days) | Unit | |
|---|---|---|
| Area (Winter crop) | ha | |
| Rate | kg/N/ha |
| Fertiliser (last 7 days) | Unit | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | ha | 0 |
| Rate | kg/ha | 0 |
| Climate conditions | ||
| Rainfall (total last 7 days) | mm | 11 |
| Soil Temp (7-day average) @10am | °C | 15.5 |
Reproductive Performance
Notes
6 week in calf rate confirmed at 79% of cows scanned. More info with a breakdown to come.
Table 5: Reproduction Metrics
| Planned start of Mating (PSM) | Unit | Target | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed Aged Cows | Date | 29-Oct-17 | |
| 2016 Born Heifers | Date | 21-Oct-17 | |
| Submission Rate | % | 90 | 91 |
| 6 Week in-calf rate | % | 78 | 79 |
| Empty Rate | % | 10 | TBC |
Research Update (fortnightly)
No update this week
Research Proposals
The SDH welcome research proposals for any sampling or research on the SDH, these are assessed by the Research Advisory Committee (RAC). Just send your request or ask for information via guy.michaels@southerndairyhub.co.nz
For more information check out the DairyNZ link:
https://www.dairynz.co.nz/about-us/research/research-farms/southern-dairy-hub/
People Management
- Advertising and interviews continue for another permanent employee to lift our team to 5 permanent farm staff for the rest of this season and into the next.