Challenging spring on the Owl Farm
order to better utilise winter pasture growth and get more days in milk. However, the difficult start of the season meant palm kernel was used to fill the feed deficit and have been feeding 6-6.5kg/cow to supplement the diet.
Dibley expects that would drop down as pasture growth takes off. Currently 1.5kg/cow is being fed out along with 16-17 kg dry matter of pasture.
The herd was in good condition from an animal health perspective. The cows calved at a 5 condition score and that quickly dropped to a 4.5 where they remained. A liver sample revealed the herd was low in selenium and the heifers had a slight copper deficiency, which was rectified.
They also condition scored the farm’s pasture, which looked at the different composition in the paddocks.
Dibley has also applied 33kg of nitrogen a hectare to help build up their spring pasture.
‘‘We’re pretty well placed. We’re in the same position as other people at the moment, the farm’s ready to go, we just need a week of good weather.’’
Once that occurred, they would then have to tightly manage the farm’s pasture.
AgFirst consultant Dave Miller ran the Owl Farm’s data through farm software programme Farmax and came up with different strategies the farm could follow heading into the rest of the season to maximise its income.
The farm was performing ‘‘pretty well’’ and any changes would be to refine the business rather than to make wholesale structural changes, he said.
The farm’s operating expenses were ‘‘pretty jolly good’’ at $3.89/kg milk solids and each of the scenarios used a similar pasture cover and cow condition.
The preferred option was to dry 100 heifers and the herd’s lighter cows off at on the first of February. These cattle remain on the farm and preserve their cow condition meaning less feed was required for gaining condition at the end of the season. Miller said there would be a small increase of 2600kg milk solids because the feed that would have been used to maintain cow condition could be used for milking.
‘‘This option produced the strongest financial result and was forecasted to make another $160 a hectare,’’ he said.
‘‘It does allow us to use supplement more efficiently to produce milk in the remaining cows.’’
The next best option was to cull 27 low-performing cows at the end of November, 40 on February 10 after pregnancy testing and 17 cows in April. Culling these cows would reduce the total feed going into maintenance and preserving cow condition for the rest of the herd. There was a potential $105 per hectare additional income if this was done
Miller also investigated putting the entire herd on once a day milking from the end of September. The cows would be in better condition and could be milked to May 31. It would also mean 60 tonnes of silage could be stored for next season.
It is the farm’s policy not to maintain staff numbers and as a result, it was the least economic option for the farm, costing the farm about $150 a hectare.
The final option was to keep the calves on the farm instead of sending them off farm for grazing on December 1. This option resulted in a 5700kg MS loss in milk production, a $20,000 saving in the farm’s grazing bill and the net impact was pretty neutral.
Key to this option working was that the calves are well fed.
When farmers looked at their own data, it was key to look at fundamentals including farm working expenses, comparative stocking rate and the farm’s milk solids per cow performance. That information allowed farmers to know if a tactical change was needed or a structural change.
Dibley said the farm still had a plan created at the start of the season and were maintaining that plan for now.
‘‘We are probably about a month or two away from making a decision on this. For the time being, we are sticking to our guns.’’