9/11/2020

Week ending 9-11-20 farm notes:

FARM PERFORMANCE

With 52mm of rain this week we have received our highest weekly rainfall since the first week of May!!

APC increased to 2495 kgDM/ha with a PGR of 87 kgDM/ha/day.  Today we have a total of 25ha shut up for silage and baleage due to be cut this weekend and next week. This is 19% of our grazeable platform.

With these paddocks out of the rotation we increase our stocking rate to 3.7 cows/ha creating a daily demand of 70kgDM/ha/day which we should grow easily for the next 2 weeks.  We drop down to a 19 day rotation but require 3000kgDM/ha pre-graze cover for cows offered 19kgDM pasture only.

Pasture samples taken on 3^rd Nov showed: 

ME between 12.2-12.6 MJME

DM between 13.1-17.2%DM

Protein between 22-26%DM (our cows require 18% min)

NDF between 39-43%DM (our cows require 35% min)

Digestibility DOMD 76-78%

Mg between 0.18-0.23% (our cows require 0.22 - 0.28%)

The biggest challenge has been hitting target residuals for the last 10 days. Tom has been mowing intermittently on paddocks that are above pre-graze target, weedy or had a less than ideal residual last grazing. With silage paddocks removed from the wedge we should be back on target to achieve residuals.

ANIMAL HEALTH & WELFARE

Calves were weighed on the 5^th with an average weight of 104kg.  These girls averaged 0.9kg/hd/day. There are still 17 calves under their weight target and we have 32 calves still on milk that will be weaned after our 2 primary school visits later on this month.

We stopped dusting MgO in the past week but cows are still receiving MgCl through the dosatron.

So far this season we have treat 25 lame cows vs 116 last season.

BUSINESS HEALTH

Analysing monthly cashflow shows that expenses are $20k ahead as at the end of Sept.  This is due to extra costs for bought-in feed (grass silage now vs PK in summer) and establishment of calf crops (vs grazing costs from Dec).

Cows have produced 202 kgMS/cow YTD and 569 kgMS/ha YTD.  We have updated our Farmax feed budget and now have enough feed purchased and on contract to achieve 175,000 kgMS and carry feed into spring next season (75 tDM).  The challenge will be managing any surplus in early Dec if the rain continues. We have budget for up to 6ha of hay but after that we will consider deferred grazing for any more surplus feed.  Below is our budgeted feed costs vs actual to date.  Silage made on farm cost 15c/kgDM. Purchased silage cost 38c/kgDM.

HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Nothing to report

QUALITY WORKPLACE

We are averaging 50hrs/wk/FTE for the YTD with 14hrs/wk currently of relief milking support.  This time last year with 3 full timers we peaked at 50 hrs/wk/person and started to decline from now on. Turning this trend around now is our challenge with another 5 weeks of mating to go. We have recruited a permanent part-timer starting next week to cover weekends and annual leave during the summer.  In the meantime we are focused on a longer lunch break during milkings for the next 6 weeks before we start feeding crops for calves and milking cows.

COMMUNITY

Last week we had 25 eager students helping us release trees on the riparian zone by the river.  This is hot hard work but made easy with a group working together.  We set up tape fences to clearly mark the area to clear and had bamboo sticks marking out the plants.  Students had gloves provided to protect from thistles and blackberry growing down there.  Their goal was to squash a 600mm radius around each of the bamboo sticks. Building plant maintenance into your FEP or planting plan ensures you allocate some time for it during a busy time of the year. These students are keen to return and finish the job for us!!

PLANNING FOR THE MONTH AHEAD:

• Preparing data for the 25^th November Farm Focus Day.

Cheers Jo + Tom