2 October 2020
Data is driving decision making around grass growth and utilisation at a Welsh dairy farm as it seeks to nearly double milk from forage in its all-year-round calving high yielding herd.
The Holstein herd at Erw Fawr, a family-run Farming Connect demonstration site near Holyhead, produces an annual average milk yield of 9,000 litres/cow.
In 2018, when grass growth was challenged by exceptionally cold conditions in the spring and a very dry summer, only 1,700 litres/cow of those litres came from grazed grass and silage.
Through their project work with Farming Connect, including improving grass management and utilisation with measuring and budgeting, 4,000 litres/cow could be achievable, Ceredig Evans told viewers of a Farming Connect Demo Farm Live broadcast from Erw Fawr.
Although the high yielders are housed, a rotation has been established around the farm for low yielders.
High quality grazed grass now forms the main portion of the ration of in-calf and low yielding cows producing 25-30 litres/cow/day; paddocks are stocked at 2.75 livestock units/hectare.
“In the past, grazing was done on gut instinct but we are now using the tools to find out how much grass the farm can grow and how we can stock the land during different times of the growing season,’’ explained Ceredig, who farms with his wife, Sara, and his parents, Ifan and Ann.
The farm had been milking British Friesians but started using Holstein genetics 40 years ago, establishing the 300-cow pedigree ‘Branwen’ herd, with milk sold to Arla.
“It is going to take time for the cattle to get used to the system but we have more grass being grown and more cows grazing,’’ said Ceredig.
Dry cows are housed on a transition diet for six weeks pre-calving, to prepare their rumen for high intakes at the start of their next lactation.
The job of grass measuring belongs to Sara who uses a plate meter to take measurements weekly during the grazing season and inputs this data into computer software.
This information is shared with the rest of the team on a weekly basis and used to set up the week’s grazing allocation.
Herdsman Martin Owen said the resulting grass wedge is used to inform grazing decisions with a focus on ensuring that the growth rate doesn’t fall behind demand.
Farming Connect Dairy Technical Officer Rhys Davies has been overseeing the demonstration site projects at Erw Fawr.
He said data collection had identified the best paddocks. A notable 8.8tDM/ha of grass had been grown on the farm in the year to the end of August.
Mr Davies explained how allocations are calculated. “If a cow requires 15kgDM/day of grazed grass, across 100 cows that amounts to a grass requirement of 1,500kgDM/day.
“A one hectare field entered at 3,000kgDM/ha and grazed down to 1,500kgDM/ha will therefore have 24 hours of grazing available.’’
Information gathered during measuring at Erw Fawr had allowed remedial action to be taken in paddocks, and might in the future be used for climate surveys on carbon sequestration.
“We are now very happy with measuring grass, but the future will be about having the farm grass supply in the right place at the right times,” said Ceredig.
An autumn reseeding plan is in place.
Maximising forage intake will help the business drive herd efficiency, sustainability and profitability, Ceredig added.
Martin is a member of the Farming Connect Pasture from Profit advance dairy group and group discussion and visits to other farms had helped to inform his knowledge of grass-based dairying.
It had encouraged him to focus on making use of every blade of grass grown on the farm, he said.