As we enter into the latter end of the grazing season, cows are entering into the final stages of their lactation, so farm roadways must be kept in good condition to maximise the growing season.
It is easy to neglect farm roadways during this time of year, as your priorities may drift towards building average farm cover (AFC) and scanning cows to see what’s in calf.
Maintaining and correcting farm roadways may be the difference in keeping your cows out that bit longer and extending the grazing season.
Poor roadways often become apparent when bad weather hits, which is not unusual in the late autumn time, which means having your roadways right and well-kept will make it easier to access paddocks.
Not only do you want to extend your grazing season at this time of the year, but you also want to get the best out of your cows, and if a cow is lame due to bad roadways, her production is going to take a serious hit.
Farm roadways
At a recent Pharvet and Teagasc event held atTeagasc Moorepark, veterinary surgeon and dairy specialist, Ger Cusack, talked about farm roadways and the importance of their condition at this time of the year.
Cusack warned attendees that a lot of lameness issues seen on farms are avoidable, as they are due to physical lameness such as bruising and white line, which can be prevented though good walking facilities for the cows.
Cusack told attendees about the roadway classifications, with index one being the worst possible roadway with poor run-off and a lot of loose stone, index three being adequate, and index five being the optimal roadway.
The optimal roadway has a tightly compact bed of binding stone at the top layer, a good camber in the middle to allow for water run-off, and has wide-turning points.
The base layer should consist of of 220-250mm of stone, 60-80mm layer of down material and roughly 50mm of a binding layer of quarry dust for the top layer.
Cusack urged attendees to not fence too close along the side of the roadway, and advised keeping a 0.5m distance from the post to the roadway.
Too big of a gap between the post and the roadway will only encourage cows to walk up on the side verge, which will result in debris and stone to rise from the verge.
Cusack told attendees that “the greatest pressure on cows feet is caused from the cows turning”, meaning that farmers must ensure the turning points are wide to allow the cows to turn gradually.
Roadway design and maintenance should be as follows:
- A width of 4m for 100 cows and another 0.5m for every 50 cows after;
- A camber of 5%, 10cm in 2cm;
- Electric fence should be 0.5m from sides;
- Wide turns and drainage;
- A fine blind of at least 25mm.
Another thing Cusack emphasised, was making sure that the roadway was higher than the field, so water can escape, and that if there is a grass verge at the sides holding water, a farmer should dig a channel every 5-10m.
Cusack warned that annual repairs must be done, and more often than that if necessary.
If possible, he recommended keeping heavy machinery off roadways and for farmers to try get in an umbilical system for spreading slurry to take the pressure off.
Cusack also mentioned that “cows’ milking order is different to the walking order, which means you need plenty of space in the collecting yard”, recommending roughly 1.5m2 /cow in a straight, rectangle collecting yard to avoid the cow turning and manoeuvring.
In line with the costs of production, Cusack put a figure of €50-€60/m to put in and keep an optimal roadway for good cow flow and good cow performance.