Paddock sizes for dairy herd

case 956

Hi everyone. I am currently farming sucklers but am plaaning to get into milk. myself and Old man was discussing over tea:D about the size of a paddock needed for 100 cows to graze for 24hrs as we at the min fencing the farm into paddocks and want to build them big enough for future. All advice appreciated

Tipp Man

We had 2.25 acre paddocks when we had 70 cows - gone up to 100 cows and last year that was doing them 1 day and 1 night but it could be tight.

so we have taken up every second wire and now have 4.5 acre paddocks. This is on the original cow ground

However on the new ground we've given to the cows all we have done is put up a good wire around 2 10 acre blocks (so just by the ditch and roadway) and we will put up a flex wire when needs be. This way we can adapt the paddock size to the quantity of grass in it to allow better grazing.

So where on the original cow ground 2.25 acres might have been a bit tight we can up the area to 2.5, the little bit extra can make a massive difference.

So in summary if we were going again we wouldn't make any permanent paddocks (although moving the flex wire can be a pain of a job, we try to only do it twice a week)

irishh_bob

case 956 wrote: »

Hi everyone. I am currently farming sucklers but am plaaning to get into milk. myself and Old man was discussing over tea:D about the size of a paddock needed for 100 cows to graze for 24hrs as we at the min fencing the farm into paddocks and want to build them big enough for future. All advice appreciated

grass is measured in kg DM per hectare , 100 cows will eat 1800 kg dm per day without any meal , the optimum amount of grass on a paddock during a 20 day rotation is around 1300 - 1400 kg per hectare so the paddocks i reckon would need to be around three acres or perhaps a bit more

blue5000

Hi OP, what size are existing fields?

I'd say somewhere between 3-4 acres is about right, extra entrances, and good roadways are more important than actual paddock size.

Too small is a pain in the ars* for cutting silage, spreading slurry/fertiliser. You need flexibility for the early and late grazing to do on off grazing and when you will be block grazing with a back fence. Try and lay out water troughs in a loop so that in hot weather the trough can be fed from both sides.

case 956

Thanks all for repling. fields range in 7 acres to 10 acre in sizes with 1 field having 40 acres. the msg is have bout 3 acre paddocks bigger is better.

stanflt

case 956 wrote: »

Thanks all for repling. fields range in 7 acres to 10 acre in sizes with 1 field having 40 acres. the msg is have bout 3 acre paddocks bigger is better.

i reckon as little paddocks as possible-invest in temporary fences with polywire where you change paddock sizes twice daily to reflect demand for grass and cover

blue5000

Hi OP I'd suggest dividing those 7-10 acre fields in half, put the strainers in 25m from the hedge, this way you can mow all round the field for silage and put the water trough in the middle of the field.

case 956

thanks every1 for taking time out to reply and great tips there to be took on board.

keep going

in keeping with some replies go for bigger(7 to8)and use use wire to subdivide,most the year only to move wire every second or third day if you bring it to the entrance and just move the end.

5live

My advisor, before he buggered off to NZ:mad:, said 30 cows/acre/day at 1800kg dm/ha. I am refencing my farm at the minute for about 90 cows and am aiming for 5 to 6 acre paddocks and 10 acre sections of silage fields.

Enjoy driving the stakes, tis good for conditioning for sports and knocking the last of the christmas dinner off:D

case 956

5live wrote: »

My advisor, before he buggered off to NZ:mad:, said 30 cows/acre/day at 1800kg dm/ha. I am refencing my farm at the minute for about 90 cows and am aiming for 5 to 6 acre paddocks and 10 acre sections of silage fields.

Enjoy driving the stakes, tis good for conditioning for sports and knocking the last of the christmas dinner off:D

ha that y i hiring a lad with postdriver:D.

John_F

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/2008/0712/farmmanagement/dairy/feature.shtml

browned

i don't bother with permanent paddocks anymore as i found them too rigid, only permanent fence is on the boundary and the farm roadways. the farm is split up wit temperary strip wires, as i find it more flexable with spring grazing. the farm is completly area mapped so it allows me to split the farm into up to 84 paddocks all of which i know the area of. so for the first rotation i can give a paddock a day and know i won't run out of grass. as the year moves on the farm can be reduced to 42 and then 21 paddocks depending on wat grazing system i want to use, i.e day and night 3 grazings per paddock etc. its a bit of work moving the fences but i think its worth it with the flexability it brings