Ollie Clarke operates an 80-cow dairy enterprise in Fordestown, Athboy, Co. Meath.
He milks a herd of Norwegian Red-cross cows in a compact spring-calving system.
“I like the traits of the Norwegian Red because they always give a sizeable calf, and they are a hardy breed with good feet,” he said.
“On top of that, milk solids are excellent and the cows have high conception rates, which is important in my compact calving system.”
Nutrition is key
Nutrition and breeding are key to the efficiency of Ollie’s enterprise.
“My results during scanning have shown that the cows have one of the best conception rates around. The vet commended the body condition of each animal,” he said.
Ollie runs a compact calving season, starting in mid-February. Most of Ollie’s herd will be calved down within a few weeks of this date which allows Ollie to maximise the use of grass in the cow’s diet.
During this period, GAIN Premium Dairy Nut and GAIN Fertility Primer Nut are supplemented to ensure high energy supply for each cow. At the minute, Ollie aims to maximise grass utilisation, during late lactation.
“All cows are being supplemented with 5kg of GAIN Autumn Extender Nut/day. This feed ensures that milk yields do not drop off as we move into late lactation,” he said.
“Energy levels and production have improved for this time of the year and body condition and overall health of each animal is looked after.”
Overall, Ollie has found that GAIN Autumn Extender “has helped to prolong the last grazing rotation, allowing the cows to stay out longer while improving milk solids”.
“For the month of September, I averaged 3.8% protein and 4.5% fat which is on a positive trend,” he said.
With 16% crude protein, GAIN Autumn Extender is designed to maximise performance during late lactation. Derived from a high level of digestible fibre and a balanced level of starch, aiding rumen fermentation, GAIN Autumn Extender also includes the feed additive Agolin.
Agolin has been proven to increase milk yield and also increases milk protein and diet efficiency. Ollie says that “it is vital that cows are provided with all necessary vitamins and minerals during this stage in lactation”.
GAIN Autumn Extender contains the full spectrum of protected and essential elements to support cow health and milk production. GAIN Autumn Extender has Bioplex protected organic minerals, Selplex protected Selenium and Agolin included.
Reducing SCC
On Ollie’s farm, he has seen the health of his cows improve, with a reduction found in milk somatic cell count (SCC).
“I would place an emphasis on soil management here. A lot of the farm has been spread with lime this year to try and get to optimal soil pH levels,” he said.
Ollie carried out some reseeding trials over the last number of years.
“With the help of my GAIN business manager Edward, I trialled different reseeding methods, but found the stitching in method to be the best as it yielded the same results using much less effort,” he explained.
The soil management and reseeding has stood Ollie well over the last number of weeks.
“The new grass is definitely more resistant to weather conditions, and it has responded well when the dry spell broke,” Ollie said.
Ollie has managed the grazing season well, and plans to graze until mid-November, saying:
“There is a good bank of grass available still and I am happy with how well grass has responded after the recent. dry spell. Grass cover is meeting my target at the minute.
“Depending on weather conditions and grass availability I may house cows at night or buffer feed silage but as things stand, cows will graze until mid-November, concentrate and buffer feeds will be altered to make sure grass covers are maintained.”
Technical support
Edward Colgan is Ollie’s GAIN business manager. Ollie values their strong working relationship that they have developed and feels confident in calling on Edward’s advice whenever it is needed.
“I’ve been working with Edward for the past while now,” he said.
“We have a very good working relationship and his knowledge and expertise is always accessible if I need anything. When it comes to getting the best performance for my herd, Edward knows what products work best.
“We would talk regularly and discuss every aspect of the farm and make sure we are happy that all is going well.”
Feeding during late lactation
By Elaine Brady, technical support, GAIN Animal Nutrition
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 1Lof milk for every 1kg concentrates fed. If grazing full-time, 2kg to 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.
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 maintain this BCS 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 3.75, energy intakes are too high and should be reduced to avoid excessive fattening.
GAIN Autumn Extender Nut is 16% protein, suitable for cows at grass. Derived from digestible fibre and a balanced level of starch it aids rumen fermentation. GAIN Autumn Extender has Bioplex-protected organic minerals, Selplex 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. 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 somatic cell count by 22%. Selplex protected selenium is also included, which helps to improve somatic cell counts, mastitis and fertility.
It also contains magnesium, with 2oz of Cal. Mag included in 4kg, 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 outdoors both day and night as it will balance and support highly digestible and fermentable grass.
Due to its low substitution effect, GAIN Autumn Extender encourages the cow to maximise grass intake and will help improve cow body condition as dairy herds approach the dry period.
How to order bulk feed online:
For more information on GAIN Autumn Extender, contact your local GAIN Business Manager, branch or visit tirlanfarmlife.com by clicking here.