The week gone by has seen growth rates similar to last week with a slight improvement in some cases due to higher night time temperatures. Unfortunately in most cases farm cover targets for this time of the year are still not being met. Up to now it was credible to suggest that an improvement in growth rates would get farm cover targets back on budget. With shorter day light hours and relatively low soil temperatures, we can no longer rely on improved growth rates to increase grass supply on farms. This of course suggests that most farms are now past balance date and will now be eating into their grass supply.

So, the focus now reverts to demand and how it can be reduced. The Weekly Update of 16/8/09 lists the options that are available in this regard. Let us consider one of them – reducing demand by feeding concentrate and/or bales silage. The question arises at what stage it is not economical to continue to this feeding regime relative to cow output and return. This question should be answered in the context of the lowest producing cows in the herd – for example:

100 cow herd currently on 12 kg grass DM and 4 kg DM concentrate/silage mix
• 400 kg non grass DM per day being fed on the farm – this equates to enough fodder to feed 25 cows (400/16)
• Now examine the output from the bottom 25 cows in the herd
The question must be answered – Does the cost of the 400 kg non-grass dry matter being fed every day exceed the total daily milk receipts of the 25 lowest performing cows in the herd. If the answer is yes, then it is justified to lower demand by drying off these cows and removing them from the platform as opposed to continue to feed the high levels of non-grass dry matter.

This, of course is dependent on the ability to move the cows off the milking platform to an outside block. If Winter feed is plentiful on the farm they can go indoors on silage. If Winter feed is not plentiful then a slight change in focus may be required in that those cows being dryed off should be those intended for culling, infertile, SCC lame cows etc.

As you probably know the fertiliser application deadline has been extended to 28th September. While the decision was welcomed, it’s the lateness of the decision has not helped in that most farmers had finished with a blanket spreading – so the question is now being raised – should I continue spreading this week. The answer is varied according to individuals nitrogen limits, but when walking the farm this week watch out for those “hungry paddocks” If urine splashes are prominent in paddocks then it is likely that the paddock would benefit from an additional application of nitrogen before the deadline.