Michael and Jim Walsh operate a 190-cow dairy farm outside Ballyroan, Co. Laois. The farm is very much a family-run business.
“I farm alongside my Dad, Jim, and with that, we employ one full-time labour unit,” Michael said.
“We milk 190 spring-calving dairy cows, predominately Holstein, British Friesian cross, on a milking platform of 55ha.’’
Michael makes use of two out blocks for heifer rearing and silage making.
At present, the Walsh’s cows are performing well and are currently milking 1.64kg of milk solids per day, with the herd averaging 500kg of milk solids yearly on 800kg of concentrate, which Michael is very happy with.
Autumn grazing
With the recent spate of bad weather, some farmers may be struggling to manage the poor grazing conditions and to get heavy paddocks grazed out. Michael and Jim place a major focus on grassland management, ensuring they get the most out of each grazing.
‘’We’re not looking too bad at the moment, even after the rain that’s fallen,” Michael siad.
“We have fairly dry land which helps, especially during the spring and autumn periods.
“We aim to leave the cows at grass until November 7-10, each year, with a plan to be back out at grass the last week in January or the first week in February, all going to plan.’’
As Michael manages the last few weeks of the 2023 grazing season, he currently has an average farm cover of 950kg/ha, equating to 300kg/dry matter (DM) per cow.
Reaping the success
GAIN Autumn Extender is a 16% protein nut that helps farmers extend late-lactation dairy cow performance during the autumn and winter periods.
Michael has been feeding his cows GAIN Autumn Extender for a number of years and feels that this has been one of the biggest reasons for improving his herd performance and allowing him to extend his grazing season.
‘’Currently, the cows are getting 2kg of GAIN Autumn Extender Nut,” he said.
“Towards the end of the last rotation, the plan would be to increase this to 3kg when the grass starts getting tight.
“It’s been an excellent product down through the years with the cows coming into the shed in excellent condition.’’
The GAIN Autumn Extender Nut is designed to boost milk production and increase yield by 1L/cow/day with the aid of the feed additive Agolin.
Since introducing the nut to the herd, Michael’s average butterfat and protein increased to over 5% and 4%, respectively, an increase of 0.2%.
Along with increasing production, GAIN Autumn Extender includes Bioplex-protected minerals, which helps reduce lameness, and Sel-Plex, which improves somatic cell count (SCC) and fertility. Michael finds these minerals a huge benefit to his herd.
‘’We don’t have any issues with lameness on the farm. A combination of foot-bathing the cows exiting the parlour and the Bioplex included in the nut helps prevent lameness,” Michael said.
“Our SCC is currently running at 140,000. Overall, the GAIN Autumn Extender Nut has improved animal performance and helped in managing our herd health.’’
Feeding during late lactation
The feed value of grass drops in the autumn due to reduced daylight, wetter conditions and greater dead material. Leafy autumn grass is a highly digestible, high-crude-protein forage.
However, it is low in energy as it has much lower sugar content than summer grass (9% vs. 21%).
Supplementation in the autumn is therefore required to provide energy to sustain milk production, help reduce grass or forage demand and extend the grazing rotation.
Thus, the response to feeding concentrates alongside autumn grass is 1L of milk for every 1kg concentrates fed. If grazing full-time, 2-3kg of a high-energy concentrate is adequate during this period.
If silage is introduced into the diet, concentrate feeding levels will depend on forage quality.
Improving body condition score
Late lactation is the optimum time to manipulate body condition. Cows should be in a positive energy balance and confirmed pregnant by this time.
Ideally, cows should be dried off in the body condition score (BCS) that you want them to calve down in and this BCS should be maintained during the dry period. Any changes in BCS can be made very efficiently and should be achieved during this period (pre-drying off).
If cows have a BCS < 3.0, energy intake needs to increase. Failure to replenish energy reserves will limit milk production during the next lactation. If BCS exceeds 3.5, energy intakes are too high and should be reduced to avoid excessive fattening.
GAIN Autumn Extender Nut is 16% protein, suitable for both cows grazing full-time and being buffer-fed silage. Derived from digestible fibre and a balanced level of starch, it aids rumen fermentation.
GAIN Autumn Extender has Bioplex-protected organic minerals, Sel-Plex-protected selenium from Alltech and Agolin included. Recent Irish research has shown that Agolin supplementation in the autumn increases milk yield and milk solids production significantly through improved feed efficiency.
Helps reduce lameness and SCC
Bioplex-protected minerals improve mineral availability, body storage and usage and have a benefit of €50/cow/year. Bioplex-protected minerals decrease lameness by 24% alongside helping to improve locomotive score and helping to reduce SCC by 22%.
Sel-Plex-protected selenium is also included, which helps to improve somatic cell counts, mastitis and fertility.
It also contains Magnesium, with 2oz. of calcium-magnesium included in 4.0kg, as an aid in the prevention of grass tetany. The maximum feeding level is 6kg/cow/day, due to the high concentration of minerals.
GAIN Autumn Extender is ideal for dairy herds which are grazing while also suitable for herds being supplemented with silage. Due to its low substitution effect, GAIN Autumn Extender encourages the cow to maximise grass intake, milk yield, and will help improve cow body condition as dairy herds approach the dry period.
Technical support
Eoin Regan is the Walsh’s GAIN business manager. Michael believes that the advice offered by Eoin and the team at GAIN is second to none, stating: “The team is excellent and always around to help, with excellent technical experience on all aspects of farming practices.”
For more information on GAIN Autumn Extender, contact your local GAIN business manager, branch, or visit tirlanfarmlife.com by clicking here.
