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The Importance of Grass Budgeting on Irish Farms Donal Patton - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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


  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Variation in Grass Growth

  7. 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)

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. 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 •

  13. 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.

  14. 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 •

  15. 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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