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Pasture growth

jconnor2010

Here in South Australia after finally coming to the end of the worst 18 month drought in history pasture growth rates have finally reached 24kgDM/ha per day. This is the required growth rate to feed the herd without any hay or silage. 
As a seasonal 12 week calving herd the full herd has calved and now and is fed 15kgDM/day of pasture in a ABC grazing rotation and 7kgDM per day of wheat/barley grain in the robots. 
This diet gives us the energy required for a 2.5kgMS per day milk production peak with a target of 2.6 milkings per day. 
Over the next 4 months pasture growth will peak at 60kgDM/ha per day allowing us to cut half the farm area for silage as surplus pasture. 

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    Here in central Argentina we’ve had a tricky year — dry start, then heavy rains that made grazing rotations a bit messy. Right now pastures are holding at 38–40 kg DM/ha/day, and the herd’s on a mix of fresh grass and 6 kg maize grain in the robots.

    We started using Horizon’s ‘absence of heat’ auto-pregnancy last season. Honestly, I was skeptical at first, but now I wouldn’t go back. It saves me a heap of time — the vet only checks the few cows the system flags, and I can focus on the ones that actually need attention. More milk in the tank, less time in the yards — I’ll take that any day.

  • +1

    Great to hear things have turned around for you after such a long drought. Here in Norway it’s the opposite challenge — plenty of rain and short growing seasons. Our pasture growth peaks around 40–45 kg DM/ha/day in summer, but we only get that for a couple of months before the cold sets in.

    We also run seasonal calving, though a bit later to match our grass curve. Cows graze 12–14 kg DM/day and get the rest from silage and a few kilos of concentrate in the robots. Cutting surplus for winter feed is always the priority — we can’t grow anything once the snow comes! Funny how two farms can be on opposite sides of the world but face the same balancing act between pasture, grain, and stored feed.

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