10,500KG YIELDS ARE ACHIEVABLE
LEFT High yielders are buffered in the afternoon between the mid-day and evening milking.
RIGHT Cows are milked three times a day through a 20:20 direct to line Delaval parlour.
FAR RIGHT Robert uses a plate meter to monitor grass growth in each paddock.
OPPOSITE LEFT Robert with the oldest batch of heifers at grass, they run with a bull to calve at two years old.
BELOW RIGHT Northleaze Spooky Greta 55, a second calver givng 33kg a day out of a dam by Lachstone Breakout.
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Grazing the paddock with the best growth is key to achieving the most from the grass as the development of the third leaf offers the most efficient grazing
to 20 readings a paddock allows me to monitor grass growth and I use Agrinet to crunch the numbers and plan which paddock to graze next. I find using the plate meter the best way of measuring and still find grass can be deceiving on the eye. “The principal is the same for grazing as feeding in the shed, they need high intakes of good quality feed to maintain production. As well as making sure grass is palatable to ensure high intakes, I also think that it needs to be easy to get cows to the right place. We have installed 700m of tracks around our network of paddocks, but the placement of water troughs is vital to encourage cows away from gate ways.”
Cows are grazed in the paddock with the highest cover rather
than in rotation.
“Grazing the paddock with the best growth is key to achieving the most from the grass as the development of the third leaf offers the most efficient grazing. The high yielders are grazed in paddocks that have between 2800 and 3000 kg of DM/ha, when paddocks have over 3000kg we pre-mow. “Initially I was sceptical about pre-mowing paddocks, however, it increases intakes even when there is no visible wilting and ensures good residuals leaving an even re- growth without the dung pat effect.”
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Robert is a member of the Wiltshire Grazing Group which is run by Piers Badnell from DairyCo. The group meets once a month on farm to share information and learn from each other’s experiences.
“I’ve really had my eyes opened to the possibilities of grazing through the
THE JOURNAL JUNE 2015 29
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD HODGSON
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