Dry summer dairy farm management
Hopefully by the time you are reading this the drought has broken. Currently we are seven weeks since any meaningful rain. Combined with very high temperatures, we potentially have another situation similar to 2020 coming at us again.
On the bright side, we still do have some control on how the season plays out, so let’s work through our options.
Set a plan
The goal is to keep as many cows in milk for as long as possible into March and then reassess the situation. This must be done so long as it does not impact on the performance of the business next season.
Have a plan in place and revise it every two weeks as dry conditions continue and variables change. Think about how you will adjust during these changes and write it down.
If this dry spell turns into a full-on drought, then by March some major decisions will need to be made.
Stocking rate
Stocking rates need to be reduced where possible. This can be done by culling cows that you know you will not be keeping for next season. You can also cull or dry off any cows that are drying themselves off and now and gaining excessive condition. Anything below 5 litres must be questioned.
If you have done your final pregnancy test already, then you will know which cows are empty. It may be best to drop these first to save feed for the in-calf cows. Space at the works is very tight, so plan ahead.
Rotation length
You should be on at least a 30-day round length by now. The maxim, ‘the drier the drought, the longer the round length’ holds true. A slower round length allows for higher average pasture covers, which reduces the amount of evapotranspiration. It also helps when droughtbreaking rains arrive to maximise re-growth rates.
When it does rain (50mm plus) a lot of the pasture will rot quickly and will reduce cow intakes further for the next 3-4 weeks while the pastures get growing again. To help reduce the fall in milk production at this time, try to save some grass silage that you can feed to replace the ‘melting’ pasture.
OAD or three in two milkings
Milking OAD, three times in two days, or seven in ten are all options that will help keep as many cows milking for longer into the summer and autumn before drying off decisions have to be made. Most cows will naturally tend to partition energy away from milk production and will hold or gain some BCS. Every eight weeks on OAD
will provide an additional 1⁄4 BCS on cows compared to having stayed TAD.
Feeding levels should not be dropped when going onto OAD, but should actually be lifted for the first week to reduce the production drop.
Supplements
Ring fence off any supplements that you know you will need for winter first, then think about
what you have on hand and how this will be best fed out.
The cheapest and most readily available feed is currently palm kernel, and the economics of this in a feed deficit stacks up with it costing about
50 cents landed and fed per kg of DM. When cows are grazing to a 1500 residual or less, then we can expect 70-100g MS responses per kg of DM eaten.
So, there is a strong enough margin that should allow your marginal feeding costs to be covered when working on a $9.00 milk price.
Currently, energy is all that is really needed, but in another four weeks of no rain, then the crude protein (CP) levels in the pasture will be dropping away, and may be below 16 per cent CP.
At this level we can start to see some milk responses to feeding a supplement that has higher CP, which may help reduce FEI issues. Palm kernel is about 16 per cent CP, so it only holds its own. Maize silage is 8-9 per cent CP, so this drops the total CP in the diet, but is still worth feeding when cows are at risk of being underfed. You can look to add protein feeds to your PKE mixes, but these products do quickly lift the cost.
Sacrifice paddock
If the dry does turn into a drought, reducing overgrazing of pastures will become very important.
The best way to do this is to milk the cows into their allocation of 12 or 24 hours of pasture and then when a 1500 kgs DM/ha residual has been achieved, remove them onto a sacrificial paddock where their supplements are fed to them.
They can remain there until the next milking. Or you can do this in reverse and they get all their pasture at night.
The best type of paddock to sacrifice will be a perhaps a poorer performing paddock that needs renovating, but good water and shade are very important.
Replacements
Have you checked your replacements out at grazing? If your farm is drying out, then there is a chance that so is your grazier’s farm. Out of sight should not mean out of mind.
The next three months are often when good calves turn into below target R1s. Don’t assume. Go and check, and work out a plan if needed to protect them through the dry. Keep the communication lines open with your grazier.
Take the time to write your plan of what actions you will take and by when. Seek help if you are stressing and need help planning these out.
And lastly, keep looking out for each other. Droughts are very stressful, so ask your neighbours and friends how they are coping. There are plenty of willing people ready to help in different ways.