Lesson in increasing milk yields
Last updated 13:39, Thursday, 08 May 2008
STAFF from dairy farms in Cumbria and the Borders attended a herdsmen day at Crichton Royal Farm, near Dumfries.
They were told how to increase milk yields by changing feeding regimes.
Cows fed purely on grass in the fields yield an average 3,200 litres a year. This figure can be boosted to 10,000 litres by putting the best cows on concentrates and letting them out only for exercise.
They also learnt to look out for the three-leaf stage before putting cows out to graze – high potassium levels in grass not ready for grazing can cause staggers.
Cows should be turned out to grass that is around 12cm tall. It should be grazed down to 5cm to achieve maximum quality and regrowth.
Dairy consultant Paul Mardell said: “Cows will tend to eat more grass after evening milking, that is the prime time for grass intake.
“Try turning them out into a fresh pasture. Grass that has been in the sun all day has a higher sugar content and can boost yields by five per cent.”
Cows need four to five litres of water a day for every litre of milk they give and herdsmen were warned to ensure grazing cows had sufficient water and not to place electric fences near troughs.
Jo Speed, from DairyCo, spoke of the need for footbathing and regular trimming to avoid laminitis, white line disease, solar ulcers and digital dermatitis.
Footbaths should not be too deep, around 80mm is the minimum depth needed to cover skin affected by digital dermatitis. Year round footbathing reduces lameness and costs as little as £6 per bath when using formalin.
Hugh McClymont, farm manager at Crichton, has created a dedicated cow track between the parlour and pastures to minimise lameness. He said others should do the same as three times a day milking was gaining in popularity.
He said: “My vet was encouraging me to improve things because the cows were suffering.
“They were going out three times a day.”
The Crichton track was built on an existing road using some rubble from a demolished parlour.
The track was virtually clean after a month of use because of the reduced amount of stress experienced by cows walking from parlour to pasture, he added.
For more information, visit the DairyCo website at www.mdc.org.uk.
