The Importance of Grass Budgeting on Irish Farms Donal Patton Teagasc, Dairy Production Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork Teagasc Ballyhaise Agricultural College, Co. Cavan . IGA 2015
Presentation outline • Maintaining resilient grass based systems post quota. • What is a grass budget? • Why improving grass budgeting skills is beneficial. • How to use and adapt your budget.
Resilient Grass-based Dairy Systems • SR matched to grass growth over a long grazing season Pasture grown, t t Concentrate DM/cow 10 12 14 16 1.5 2.0 2.3 2.6 0.00 1.7 2.1 2.4 2.8 0.25 1.8 2.2 2.5 3.0 0.50 1.9 2.3 2.7 3.1 0.75 • Increased grass production and utilisation essential (16 & 13 t DM /ha) • National statistics • Average grazing season length of 223 days (Lapple et al., 2012) • Grass availability limits extended grazing (Creighton et al., 2011) • Feed supplementation at grazing is inefficient (Ramsbottom et al., 2015) • Importance of grass supply/demand management will become more important as stocking rates increase on farms
Managing Supply and Demand • Learning how to manage supply and demand is a skill set developed over time. • The first step is learning how to accurately measure grass available. • Regular measurement will allow you to build up a picture of the growth potential of your farm at particular times of the year. • Using this information we can set out target covers for each week. • For farmers who are comfortable with measurement budgeting is the next logical step. • Among those measuring number who are using a grass budget is small.
Grass is a perishable feed • Below 1200 kg DM / ha restricts growth • • Restricts intake • 1200 – 1500kg DM / ha • Max growth • Max intake • Max utilisation • Above 1500 Kg DM / ha • Restricts growth Restricts intake • • Restricts utilisation
Variation in Grass Growth
Grass growth is more variable on marginal soils 18000 2014 Growth (15.7 tons / ha) 16000 14000 12000 10000 Wet 8000 Silage 6000 Grazing 4000 2000 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 2013 Growth (13 tons / ha) 2012 Growth (11 tons / ha)
Grass Budgeting is Critical on Irish Dairy Farms • In the absence of grass budgeting increases in stocking rate will reduce grazing season length and grass proportion in the diet resulting in increased variable and fixed costs of production • The grass budget is the most important grazing technology reduce milk production costs by € 100/cow/yr (2 cent/litre) 100 90 y 80 l i a ed 70 60 r a t c 50 e /H 40 M gD 30 20 k Daily pasture growth rate 10 Daily herd feed requirement 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Feed Budgeting – achieving seasonal targets • A grass budget is a plan for grass supply based on expected growth and animal requirements during the ‘feed expensive months’ • Used to rapidly react when AFC deviates from target levels Average Farm Cover Ballyhaise Feed Budget2014/2015 (kg DM/ha) 1300 Peak Oct 1 st : 1200 1,150 kg DM/ha 1100 1000 Turnout Feb 10 th 900 825 kg DM/ha 800 700 Target cover 600 Housing Nov 15 th Actual cover 500 650 kg DM/ha 400 Magic day April 5 th : 500 kg DM/ha 300 15-Aug 25-Aug 4-Sep 14-Sep 24-Sep 4-Oct 14-Oct 24-Oct 3-Nov 13-Nov 23-Nov 3-Dec 13-Dec 23-Dec 2-Jan 12-Jan 22-Jan 1-Feb 11-Feb 21-Feb 3-Mar 13-Mar 23-Mar 2-Apr 12-Apr
Benefits of Feed Budget • Timely response to surpluses and deficits. • Medium term planning – course of action for next week. • Long term planning – especially when expanding. • Helps to identify problem areas – early spring. • A very useful way of communicating with staff. • Reduced feed costs.
Adapting Feed Budget 1. Budgeting is more complex with wet soils • Building high covers is too risky on wet areas • Location of feed is important. • Not included in first rotation – does not grow • Growth is more variable 2. Building AFC to extend the grazing season must occur on drier soils within the farm • Building in excess of 1150kg DM / ha will result in very heavy covers (2800 kg DM / ha) 3. Winter growth may be 0 kg DM/ha/day! • Target closing cover essential = Preferentially managed Wetland
Ballyhaise Closing and Opening AFC • Minimal winter growth in 2 of the last 5 years • Essential to carry some high pre-grazing herbage into winter • Target AFC 600kg – 650kg DM/ha at closing 900 Average Farm Cover (kg DM/ha ) 800 Opening cover 700 Closing cover 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 • Average overwinter growth is 1.5 kg DM / ha per day • Closing on the 5 th of October is too late (25 th of September) 70% grazed by 1 st of November •
Heavy Pre-grazing Herbage Masses on Wetter Soils • Carrying high pre-grazing masses through winter is essential to meet feed budget targets and rarely results in sward decay 1800 Winter growth (+/-) Pregrazing HerbageMass(kg DM/ha) 1600 1400 Closing winter premass 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 -200 • Important that these were well grazed out in previous rotations • Requires careful management in Spring – allocation, on / off grazing.
Feed Budgets at Ballyhaise Lower target farm covers compared to Moorepark soils Peak of 1150kg DM/ha on October 1 st • Peak grazing covers on drier area during autumn • Wetter areas preferentially grazed to maximise grass utilisation • Variable autumn/winter/spring grass growth rates require greater discipline to achieve target covers Commence building cover from August 1 st and last rotation from Sept 25 th • Closing cover of >600kg DM/ha in mid-Nov • Opening cover of >800kg DM/ha on Feb 10 th • End of Rotation 1 on April 7 th to 10 th at AFC of 500kg DM/ha •
Conclusion • Grass is a perishable feed with irregular supply. Budgeting is essential to maintain low cost systems ( € 100/cow • less feed costs!) • The budget is the most important decision making tool for 6 months of the year. • It will help you make timely decisions and avoid severe feed shortages. • You can alter and adapt the budget to suit your farm / system.
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