A Guide to the Dry Period.docx

A Guide to the Dry Period.docx

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AGuidetotheDryPeriod

AGuidetotheDryPeriod

Therehasbeenalotoftalklatelyonthe"transitionperiod",fourweekspriortoandaftercalving.Thisisoneofthemostimportantperiodsoftheyear,butitiseasytomanageifyouhaveconfidenceisyourmanagementabilityandimplementsomesimplestrategies.

Traditionallymuchoftheadviceinthisareahasbeenbasedonresearchwithanimalsthatarefedtotalmixedrationsbutthishassincebeenproventobeinappropriateforcowsonaforagebaseddiet.Leadfeedingor"steaming"cowswithconcentratescancauseareductioninintake（ratherthananincrease）andleadtotheneedtofeedevenhigherenergydensefeeds.Thisisaviciouscirclenotknowntoexistuntilrecentresearchwascarriedoutusinganimalsfedpasturebaseddiets.

Thismeansthatunlessyouintendtofeedhighlevelsofgrainimmediatelyaftercalving"leadfeeding"isoflittlebenefit.Itshouldbeourintentiontohaveenoughpastureonthefarmatcalving,andtoemployappropriategrazingstrategiestonegatethefeedingofconcentratesthroughoutspring.

Themajorityofproblemstypicallyassociatedwiththetransitionperiodcanbeavoidedbyensuringthatintakeismatchedtothecowsbiologicalstate.Drymatterintakeisanexcellentmeasureofthepackageofnutrientsthatthecowwillreceiveoverthisperiodbecauseweknowthatpasturewillbe:

∙Highinprotein

∙Highinenergy

∙Highinfibre

∙Lowincalcium

∙LowinMagnesium

Asaresultwecanfeedaccordingly.Cowswillbeabletoeatenoughpasture（ifitismadeavailabletothem）throughthisperiodtomeetalltheirrequirementswiththeexceptionofmagnesiumandcalcium.Asaresultitisprudenttoprovidethistothecowsasasupplement.Thecheapestwaytodothisistousemagnesiumoxide（Causemag）forthreeweekspriortocalvingandmagnesiumoxideandlimestonefor3weekspostcalving.

Acommitmenttofeedcowsatahigherlevelthaninpastyearsmayrequiredifferentstrategiestoensurethatthetargetpasturecoveratcalvingisstillachieved.Doafeedbudgetandcalculatewhetherthereisgoingtobeashortfallinfeedatcalving.Thecheapestwaytorectifythis,regardlessofthestrategyused,istoactquicklyasallfeeds,andtheresponsetoappliednitrogenwillreducebetweennowandcalving.Somestrategiesthatmighthelpare:

1.

Cullallcowsnotrequiredfornextseason

2.

Cullanyyoungstocknotrequired

3.

Sellnon-dairystock

4.

Sellmalebreedingstock

5.

Applynitrogen

6.

Agistsome/alloftheherdoffthemilkingarea

7.

Winteroffyoungstock

8.

Purchasehayandsilage.

Thefollowingareguidelinesonlyformineralsupplementation.Consultyourveterinarianifyouintendtousehigherrates.

Magnesiumoxide

10-20g/cow/day（feddirecttothecow）

50-60g/cow/day（dustedonforage）

Limestone

150-200g/cow/day（dustedonforage）

Rememberitisafalseeconomytorobproductionfromnextseason.Youwillpayforitwithinterest.Itisimportanttodoafeedbudgettodeterminedry-offdateandtolookafterthecowsthroughoutthedryperiod.Ifyoudothisyoushouldhaveahasslefreecalvingandearlyspringperiod.

GoodMilkingRoutinesProvideCost-FreeRewards

Whenmilkpricesareloweryouneedtominimisedemandoncashflowwhilereducingthepotentialforlonger-termproblems.

On-goingmastitiscontrolisessentialbecauseanincreasednumberofmastitisinfectionsnow,canleadtosignificantlossesinthenexttwotothreelactations.Itdoesn'tcostanythingtoassessandoptimisemilkingroutines.

Thetimecowsspendattachedtomilkingmachinesisdirectlyrelatedtotheriskofteatdamageandmastitis.Theaimistotakecupsoffearlier,withoutunder-milking.

Thetimingofcups-offisofteninfluencedbythecups-onprocess.Whencupsareattachedtooearly,beforetheteatsareplumpwithmilk,teatcups‘crawl’upteatsobstructingthepassageofmilkfromtheuddertotheteat.Cowsthentakelongertomilk.It’scommontobothincompletelymilkandover-milkthesamecows!

Onewaytochecktheefficiencyofyourmilkingroutineistomeasuretheamountofmilkleftintheudderattheendofmilking（the‘strippings’）.Hand-strip25cowsattheendofmilking.Ifmorethan20ofthe100quartershavestripyieldsofabout100mLormoreyouhaveaproblemthatwarrantsfurtherinvestigation.

Machinestripping（puttingaweightontheclusterattheendofmilking）shouldnotberoutinelyusedtocollectmilkremainingintheudder.Itcausesmoreproblemsbyunbalancingthecluster,increasingcupslippageandincreasingtheriskofmastitis.

FormoreinformationrefertotheCountdownDownundernationalmastitisandcellcountcontrolprogram’s‘Farmguidelinesformastitiscontrol.’

CountdownDownunderFarmerShortCoursesalsoprovideanopportunity