Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

Keepgrowing

kevthegaff wrote: »

Cant Johnes and tb get mixed up in testing

Tb has a huge bearing on a Johnes test

atlantic mist

can they not test tb through our milk save us doing the manual test each year

straight

Did everyone get the text about the incoming post related to your herd Tb risk? I got a fright when I saw it first.

Grueller

straight wrote: »

Did everyone get the text about the incoming post related to your herd Tb risk? I got a fright when I saw it first.

Ya got it too.

Mooooo

Got it as well. Is it to do with no rules being introduced depending on what they decide your risk is?

Siamsa Sessions

Mooooo wrote: »

Got it as well. Is it to do with no rules being introduced depending on what they decide your risk is?

I got it too. I presume everyone with a herd number got one. Time will tell if there’s anything to it or if it’s just a “new initiative” from the Dept. That is, some internal office passing the time

Castlekeeper

awaywithyou wrote: »

We have to pay for our education

Ciall ceannaithe is the old expression around here.

Castlekeeper

3 the square wrote: »

What do u do to try prevent milk fever at calveing ??

We have found eating strong grass almost like standing hay with a healthy mineral profile, that hasn't been heavily fertilised esp with slurry.
A different kind of top quality grass!

alps

Castlekeeper wrote: »

We have found eating strong grass almost like standing hay with a healthy mineral profile, that hasn't been heavily fertilised esp with slurry.
A different kind of top quality grass!

Would suggest that this is also the top quality grass that calves need to be turned out to. Difficult to have a paddock of it in early spring though...

Say my name

alps wrote: »

Would suggest that this is also the top quality grass that calves need to be turned out to. Difficult to have a paddock of it in early spring though...

Cocksfoot.!!

alps

Say my name wrote: »

Cocksfoot.!!

Talk to me..

mahoney_j

alps wrote: »

Would suggest that this is also the top quality grass that calves need to be turned out to. Difficult to have a paddock of it in early spring though...

Agree but I’ve left calves till late April to turn out ,.leave paddock grow bit stronger with minimal n used .this has made a big difference hated turning out lumps of calves and following advice of getting them out early and onto lush grass watching them melt for few weeks

Mooooo

Do many of ye have them on milk at turnout to ease the transition? Didn't here but put them in a paddock with a round feeder full of straw and ad lib meal. They've done ok, off meal the last 2 month's and very settled back on meal yday with the weather. Now kept them on home block as well with leader follower with heifers to give the small out farm a break of a year from young stock so maybe that's why they are doing better as well

Say my name

alps wrote: »

Talk to me..

That's all I got.

Have a few bags on order might know more next year..

mahoney_j

Mooooo wrote: »

Do many of ye have them on milk at turnout to ease the transition? Didn't here but put them in a paddock with a round feeder full of straw and ad lib meal. They've done ok, off meal the last 2 month's and very settled back on meal yday with the weather. Now kept them on home block as well with leader follower with heifers to give the small out farm a break of a year from young stock so maybe that's why they are doing better as well

Calves here have to be weaned and off milk for a week before turnout I have a calf training paddock with sheep wire all round where every calf gives a day or 2 max to train to shock and then to out farm

Castlekeeper

Say my name wrote: »

That's all I got.

Have a few bags on order might know more next year..

Do you still get the free round up with it?
A bit scattered here and there is grand but I wouldn't want it getting hold of a field.

Say my name

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Do you still get the free round up with it?
A bit scattered here and there is grand but I wouldn't want it getting hold of a field.

Deep roots. Improved new varieties. Supposedly more palatable. Great growth.
Reducing poaching compared to RG.
Drought resistant. Won't run through cows like RG. Reduced need for additional 'roughage'.
Hopefully a good candidate for foliar feeding keeping it leafy and reduced stem and full of protein.

It was either this or IRG or both going in to be oversown. Interest order only went in Friday with salesman. Will see what'll happen.
Soils seem more looser with the biological feeding so.

GrasstoMilk

Say my name wrote: »

Deep roots. Improved new varieties. Supposedly more palatable. Great growth.
Reducing poaching compared to RG.
Drought resistant. Won't run through cows like RG. Reduced need for additional 'roughage'.
Hopefully a good candidate for foliar feeding keeping it leafy and reduced stem and full of protein.

It was either this or IRG or both going in to be oversown. Interest order only went in Friday with salesman. Will see what'll happen.
Soils seem more looser with the biological feeding so.

Would you consider grass measuring to make these comparisons

Castlekeeper

Say my name wrote: »

Deep roots. Improved new varieties. Supposedly more palatable. Great growth.
Reducing poaching compared to RG.
Drought resistant. Won't run through cows like RG. Reduced need for additional 'roughage'.
Hopefully a good candidate for foliar feeding keeping it leafy and reduced stem and full of protein.

It was either this or IRG or both going in to be oversown. Interest order only went in Friday with salesman. Will see what'll happen.
Soils seem more looser with the biological feeding so.

Is IRG is intermediate PRG? Apart from earlier growth, is that just more trouble mid season?
Would see cocksfoot as part of a mix, the more species the better. Timothys and some fescues have a bit to offer as well along with ryegrass.

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Would you consider grass measuring to make these comparisons

No offence but experience and a good eye on what’s happening in front of you is as good if not better than grass measuring .could count on one hand ammount of times I’ve physically went out grass measured and put a figure on it this year and things have tipped along v nicely .go thru paddocks 2/3 times most weeks and decisions made on what I see in front of me

Mooooo

mahoney_j wrote: »

No offence but experience and a good eye on what’s happening in front of you is as good if not better than grass measuring .could count on one hand ammount of times I’ve physically went out grass measured and put a figure on it this year and things have tipped along v nicely .go thru paddocks 2/3 times most weeks and decisions made on what I see in front of me

That's fine but when say my name is actually trying different grasses etc and methods to paddocks on the farm the measuring would allow a more easily done comparison at the end of the year, if for himself as much as anyone.
In your own case being in dero means measures have to be recorded now anyway so as your out there anyway throwing what you see in to the app or notepad won't take much longer

mahoney_j

Mooooo wrote: »

That's fine but when say my name is actually trying different grasses etc and methods to paddocks on the farm the measuring would allow a more easily done comparison at the end of the year, if for himself as much as anyone.
In your own case being in dero means measures have to be recorded now anyway so as your out there anyway throwing what you see in to the app or notepad won't take much longer

Very easy string a few figures together tho .cows will tell u an afull lot about different paddocks /grasses etc what say my name outlines here from time to time about different things he dose on his farm is hugely interesting .personally I’d get more from something like that

Say my name

mahoney_j wrote: »

Very easy string a few figures together tho .cows will tell u an afull lot about different paddocks /grasses etc what say my name outlines here from time to time about different things he dose on his farm is hugely interesting .personally I’d get more from something like that

The thing that irks me is it's supposed to be my business.
If I put the figures up on any of the apps it's everyone else's business and the government and teagasc can use it as some win on their own behalf as this much grass is grown against this much fert is spread against this much meal is fed.
I know it's supposed to be put down in dero.
But am I not allowed a bit of business operating figures that I can keep to myself.
I'll know by eye straight away myself if a thing works or not.

I'm awkward I know. But stuff em let them do their own thing and work if they want the figures. I'll continue as is and doing little bits every year.

mahoney_j

Say my name wrote: »

The thing that irks me is it's supposed to be my business.
If I put the figures up on any of the apps it's everyone else's business and the government and teagasc can use it as some win on their own behalf as this much grass is grown against this much fert is spread against this much meal is fed.
I know it's supposed to be put down in dero.
But am I not allowed a bit of business operating figures that I can keep to myself.
I'll know by eye straight away myself if a thing works or not.

I'm awkward I know. But stuff em let them do their own thing and work if they want the figures. I'll continue as is and doing little bits every year.

Fully agree ,said it before but I’d learn a lot more from people like u and I would from a pool of national data
Some of stuff from tegasc (early spring m and back end Fertliser and building of covers)is dated but still chucked out yearly .guys like Andre van bannsveld are often ridiculed with there approach which tbf has a lot more scientific background (and cop on)than the norm

GrasstoMilk

mahoney_j wrote: »

Fully agree ,said it before but I’d learn a lot more from people like u and I would from a pool of national data
Some of stuff from tegasc (early spring m and back end Fertliser and building of covers)is dated but still chucked out yearly .guys like Andre van bannsveld are often ridiculed with there approach which tbf has a lot more scientific background (and cop on)than the norm

Sure dont follow it, do your own thing
Friend is following Andre's plan this year, no difference in milk yield and has to go in with bales now to build the grass, bales that he took out 2 weeks ago.
Wheres the margin in that?
Gr is also lower than mine

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Sure dont follow it, do your own thing
Friend is following Andre's plan this year, no difference in milk yield and has to go in with bales now to build the grass, bales that he took out 2 weeks ago.
Wheres the margin in that?
Gr is also lower than mine

As I said lots ridicule him ......a lot very unfairly .going into my third back end with his approach so far so good .in spring follow it to a point no Fertliser till there is sustained growth and rising soil temp not just hooking up the spreader and going with half bag urea on 12 jan
If your freind ...was following his advice his cows and grassland management should be better ,big advocate of grazing 13/1400 covers .....he isn’t the only one feeding bales either loads are due to inclement weather I’ll be much happier grazing 14/1600’covers for next few weeks ,better cleanouts ,better regrowths than wading thru 2/2500 covers in late September October

GrasstoMilk

If you're not grass measuring how do you know which paddocks aren't performing
We've 11.5t grown to date, theres 5 paddocks below the av, 4 have been reseeded and the 5th will need to be reseeded do to grass variety/quality
Grass measuring has transformed our farm / cows and overall production


The department have no access to individual farms on pasturebase.
You dont have to put in fert records, very few do

I must be product of the system :rolleyes: but I couldn't milk cows without grass measuring, single biggest driver of production here

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

If you're not grass measuring how do you know which paddocks aren't performing
We've 11.5t grown to date, theres 5 paddocks below the av, 4 have been reseeded and the 5th will need to be reseeded do to grass variety/quality
Grass measuring has transformed our farm / cows and overall production


The department have no access to individual farms on pasturebase.
You dont have to put in fert records, very few do

I must be product of the system :rolleyes: but I couldn't milk cows without grass measuring, single biggest driver of production here

Fair play I’ve zero interest in how much I grow (well on paper)it’s what I utilise and how ling my grazing season is that matters .from a bit of cop on and experience I know paddocks performing and not and paddocks cows clean out better than others .every paddock soil tested yearly and plan put in place based on that
On your last comment come on ,your obviously doing a great job but think your over estimating what actual grass measuring as u outline brings and undermining your own effort

Say my name

Should we not be finding ways of reducing dosing usage, reducing mineral supplementation, reducing fertilizer usage, building soil life and carbon storage.

Pure grass measuring won't show any of that. It's useful. But the above is my ultimate aim.

I'm getting a kick this weather of seeing the dung pats all mixed into the soil.
A perfectly healthy soil can fix it's own nitrogen from the air and bring in more phosphorus than is shown on soil tests.
It's all this we need to be finding out now while we can and have our farms set up before the hammer gets dropped on us.
It takes years for organic farms to get up and running properly and get the microbes doing the work. Hopefully I think I'm further along that road on farm and head than some highly intensive conventional farms if that hammer does get dropped without warning.

trixi2011

Say my name wrote: »

Deep roots. Improved new varieties. Supposedly more palatable. Great growth.
Reducing poaching compared to RG.
Drought resistant. Won't run through cows like RG. Reduced need for additional 'roughage'.
Hopefully a good candidate for foliar feeding keeping it leafy and reduced stem and full of protein.

It was either this or IRG or both going in to be oversown. Interest order only went in Friday with salesman. Will see what'll happen.
Soils seem more looser with the biological feeding so.

Just a little on the cockfoot grass . Used winter cows on cockfoot seed crops in NZ . Because of the cocksfoot paddocks being for seed no silage or hay was allowed to be feed while grazing . We would only put the incalf heifers on it as mature cows would strip weight while grazing it . Cocksfoot while very palatable to stock has very poor energy and protien content and really only used for its drought resetance