NO RAIN = NO PASTURE. Situation now critical in Midlands

NO RAIN = NO PASTURE
The very dry conditions in the UK Midlands, is currently very serious for pasture based dairy farmers. Little or no rain has fallen in Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Derbyshire or Nottingham for months. On farm pasture is critical & farmers are heavily feeding. Winter feed supply is critical. A look at the monthly rainfall patterns in the UK each month is very revealing.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/

Not only is rainfall scarce but ground water supplies on some farms are very low. Some on farm water bores are drawing less than 20% of normal supply. Daily water demand is more than twice normal due to the dry diets being fed….concentrates, silage & minimal high DM% pasture. Normal daily water used for dairy cows is approx 2x daily milk production. Some farms using electro pulse meters (LMS systems) have recorded daily use as high as 100litres per cow per day. Water tables are very low throughout the Midlands. If the autumn winter rainfall in these areas is low this will be very serious next summer not only for pastures but for livestock water supply too.

Phil Evans from LMS http://www.liquidminerals.co.uk/ tells me that the normal pattern of daily water consumption is 40% after am milking & 60% after pm milking. Water use is seasonal & dependent on the diet (DM%)

UK WATER

UK is nowhere near self sufficient in water. Only 38% of total water use is from the UK. A staggering 62% of total water use is actually imported from other countries. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/20/water.food1 So we are very dependent on other countries to successfully manage their fresh water resources. Throughout the world 70% of existing available fresh water is used for irrigation & agricultural/food. The UK is the 6^th largest net importer of virtual water in the world.

http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Orr%20and%20Chapagain%202008%20UK%20waterfootprint-vol1.pdf

The water demand of a country is usually expressed as the total water withdrawn from rivers, lakes & aquifers in that country for different sectors of its economy. However this doesn’t equate to the total demand for water as a country as many products including food are imported. The “Water Footprint” of a country or a product like milk is calculated to include both the direct water used & the virtual water associated with that product’s production. Unlike carbon footprints of which there are hundreds of different versions (total shambles!) there is only one agreed water footprint method of calculation.

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/home
ON FARM WATER

On farms there are three types of water available…Green water = rainfall (not including runoff which is lost). Blue water = surface & groundwater. Grey water = recycled water including effluent & dirty water.

Globally animal production takes a very big proportion of the total water used. 19% of total livestock water is used by dairy cattle….mainly for feed (drinking water is only a small proportion of the total). The less cereals in the cow diet usually results in less water use. The less imported feed also results in less water being used. It looks as though a total grazing system uses approx 60% of the water of a high input fully housed system of dairying. A massive plus for pasture based dairying.

Globally the Water Footprint for milk is 1000 litres of water used to produce 1 litre of Milk.

On farm nothing crashes milk production more than being short of water. Drinking water is NOT just about water troughs. Rather it’s the combined impact of the water supply, pumps, water pipe diameter & trough size. The biggest on farm problems relate to the circulation/delivery water pipes not being large enough.

The most efficient & lowest cost installation is a ring main system with minimal laterals to the water troughs.
In the UK we tend to take water for granted. In Australia water is gold! Now we find that we are very short of water in some areas.....its very serious! Its very stressful too.
Current UK Pasture Measurements

Situation now critical in Midlands. Can you help with feed?

Contact me if you can help especially if you have organic feed that could be transported into the Midlands. Ring me.

TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth (kgsDM/ha/day)

Cumbria AFC 2568, growth 44, Summer here at last

West Cheshire, 1774, growth 13, hot windy & dry, feeding anything I can get my hands on.

East Cheshire, AFC 2600, growth 60+

Staffordshire, 1800, growth well below demand, feeding 4kgs conc + 7 kgs silage, Cows drinking 55litres/day

Staffordshire, 2370, gr down from 40 to 24, pastures water stressed. Bores okay but both farm streams dry

Shropshire org, bone dry, 1365, gr 16, demand 30 Grandparents never seen it as dry

Shropshire org, 1850, no growth, no rain since June, Can anyone sell organic feed to me. Desperate!

Shropshire, 2050, gr 28, no rain, Sold empties, lame ones etc cover reducing HELP!
Shropshire, 1750, gr 16, de 10 feel like high input farmer 6kg in parlour + 12kg DM TMR Water now requires the Mains

Herefordshire, 2346, gr 35, de 18, 3mm rain

Herefordshire, 2275, gr 30 de 52, still very dry

Oxfordshire, 2150, gr 30, de 20

Gloucestershire, 2505, gr 50, demand 50,

North Wales, 2303, growth 58, demand 43

South West Wales, 2601, growth 63, demand 44, Heifers AFC 3245, gr 65, de 27

Dorset AFC 2204, growth 62, demand 30

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/

Herbal Clover Pastures Challenge Our Concept of What a Dairy Pasture Looks Like

The dawning of a new age OR a Storm of Innovation?
A group of very innovative pasture based dairyfarmers in the UK are challenging our concept of what a pasture looks like. Farmers are experimenting with Herbal Clover pastures. Lots of different mixes of herbs with white clover to provide the nitrogen. Over the past two weeks I've been very lucky to work with 2 french groups (one farmer group from Brittany & an Organic Dairy Advisers group from Normandy) visiting SW England. We were on both conventional & organic pasture based dairy farms.
On one Dorset farm new herbal leys that contain either Choice Chicory plus Clover or Tonic Plantain  plus clover looked very impressive. 
These were direct drilled into an old poor grass pasture during the dry spring. To date they are growing twice the average pasture growth rates of the rest of the farm & more than 3x the dry matter has been harvested off these fields over summer compared to the old pasture. There is a massive difference in the quality of the pastures....the chicory is averaging 20% crude protein & 13 ME. The milking cows are grazing it every 20 days compared to every 60 days last year. We believe the cows are harvesting approx 1500kgs DM/ha at each grazing. The Chicory is slightly outperforming the Plantain but there is little difference in the milk response when the cows are grazing these herbal pastures.
The Breton group debated if the grazing rotation could even have been quicker i.e. put the cows in on shorter Chicory.

The grazing utilization has been excellent.

The Tonic Plantain plus White Clover (Photo below...is pre grazing)

What I'm not convinced works is adding chicory to a grass pasture mix. I think every grazing is a compromise. You are either grazing too early or too late for one of the species. I would NOT advise a grass/ chicory mix. I know many farmers have been advised to do this but I disagree with this approach. 

However on two different organic pasture dairy farms we saw Mixed Herbal Pastures with either Red Cover or White Clover. Both were very impressive. At one farm the Herbal/Clover Pasture was being grazed by the milking cows. The milkers were fully utilizing the herbal pasture & milk increased every time they grazed it.

At the second organic farm we saw a Mixed Herbal Pasture that had been left to mature & flower which was being block grazed by dry cows about to calve this autumn. This stored Autumn Herbal Pasture was quite a sight....in full flower & waist high. The Chicory & red Clover were dominant but there was a real mix of other herbs too.

We were impressed how the dry cows were grazing it right out. There was also an astonishing number of birds flying & feeding off the insects above the Herbal Pasture.

The cows were in terrific condition & there were no metabolic problems at calving. Although the protein & energy must be quite high there was plenty of fibre in the tall stalks which the cows were grazing to 5 cm.
We also saw Chicory being used to reseed areas of damaged pasture where there was bare ground. The Chicory established quickly & the clover filled the gaps.

Many areas of England have been very dry this year..................its time to re think what pasture is on a dairy farm. I think we need to move on from just ryegrass & clover. There maybe better options. Many of these herbal pastures can be sown at different times of the year.
I think as innovative farmers experiment we will learn that these Herbal Pastures can be very productive NOT just for COWS BUT for the SOIL & the ENVIRONMENT too.
Current UK Pasture Measurements
Still dry in the Midlands of England with decreasing day length & night temperatures. Extreme wet causing problems in other areas with track problems & pasture damage.
It seems "Life wasn't meant to be easy!"
Roll on 2012
The Average Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth Rates (kgsDM/ha/day)
South Ayrshire, Scotland, AFC 2378, growth 24, demand 19, suppl 38kg DM/ha, Gone onto OAD cos of track conditions, white line problems
Cumbria, 2467, gr30, Soil temp 13.2 degrees, V wet tracks a challenge, monitoring BCS
Northern Ireland, 2359,(target 2500), gr 53, de 38 have fed heavily,Dept plot shows soil moisture deficit reducing now feeding 3kg conc & grass only
Nth Wales, 2261, growth 45, demand 43
Shropshire, 2405, gr 50, 35mm rain......10miles away only 10mm, 0 growth,
Shropshire, 1700, gr 20, demand 9, still very dry, going to be an expensive winter
Hereford, 2282, gr 30, de 18, 11mm rain, cover increasing slowly, growth better further down wedge
Hereford, 2100, gr 23 (total demand 52), suppl 30, grass allocation 22, still V dry no chance of building covers.
Pembrokeshire organic, 2311, gr 46, de 26, milk taken a dive to 11 litres need to stop decrease
Pembrokeshire, Milking area 2515, gr 69, de 47. Heifer area...3113, gr 47, de 27 still wet & mild
Dorset, 2745, gr 61, de 43, some rust in paddocks now
Hampshire, AFC 2878, growth 78, demand 38
East Sussex, 2200, gr 40, 70% calved in 3 weeks getting easier to watch rugby!!
Cornwall, AFC 2700, gr 53, de 40, heifers coming home early to sort out
Limerick, Ireland, 2900, gr 46, de 40, feeding 2kg conc Still celebrating! Getting up early Sunday!
South Kilkenny, Ireland, 2207, gr 42, de 30, Scan cows 4% empty after 11 weeks Great result!
Nth Germany organic, 1835, decreasing growth 25, demand 27, wet making life difficult pasture damage impossible to build covers. Disappointed with USA result but C'Mon ABs!! 

Cow Condition Score Your Herd Now Don't Wait until Winter

Outwintering on forage crops has become a popular low cost wintering option for dry cows & young stock in the UK. However practical lessons are being learnt from the leading exponents…..For example to get the best results you need to carefully select the best cows. Cows that are dried off thin are not suitable. Outwintering will show up poor management decisions made in the late lactation period back in the summer/autumn.

Regular monitoring of cow condition scores (BCS) on 4 spring calving herds in the UK has shown that very few dry cows put on condition when outwintered on forage crops. So one of the lessons from this on farm research was that you need to manage cow condition scores from mid lactation onward. Identify thinner cows now & start doing something about it. Our experience is that putting condition on high genetic quality NZ Bred cows in late lactation is very difficult. As you add feed the cows tend to milk better rather than put on extra condition. In our experimental herds the only cows to increase the BCS in late lactation were those milked OAD. This typically was about 10-15% of the herd.
To put on extra condition these cows need to be well fed…..perhaps residuals need to be at least 1650kgsDM/ha. Don’t wait until drying off to try to put on extra BCS if you are outwintering.
All dry cows have a very limited window where it is possible to put on extra condition. At best you could gain one NZ BCS but it must be done early in the first month of the dry period. To gain this extra BCS requires virtually a milker ration of full feeding of high quality ME feeds. Drying thin cows off early must help.
Cow Condition of pasture based dairy cows is closely linked to fertility & profitability. So it is seriously important to measure & monitor BCS now.

Dry cows outwintered on forage crops cope very well with the winter wet, cold air temperatures & often saturated or frozen soils. This is because of the “onboard heating” ruminants have as part of their metabolism (unlike humans). However we need to carefully calculate daily maintenance requirements taking into account the weather & soil conditions. If the forage crops are frozen, then this will add to the daily dry cow maintenance requirements too, as cows need to defrost & warm up the feed first & this takes energy. Conditions like last winter could mean that you need to feed 50% more just to maintain dry cows each day. Cows lying on cold wet soil will have higher maintenance requirements compared to dry soils. Research calculates cow maintenance figures from indoor fed trials so you need to judge temperature, wind chill factors & soil conditions & make changes to the daily feeding.

Dr David Stevens from Agresearch NZ visited the UK Midlands this week. He spoke about his outwintering trials in the lower half of the South Island which has a winter climate similar to much of the UK. His trial was with FJ XBred cows on Swedes plus baleage. “The intake of swedes by non-lactating dairy cows in late pregnancy, estimated by crop disappearance, was not significantly affected by allowance (6 or 8kgsDM Swedes) at one hour after allocation, being approximately 4 kg DM. However, the intake of the cows on the Low allowance was then limited by the availability of the forage having eaten approximately 80% of their daily allowance. The intake of cows offered the high allowance did not achieve 80% utilisation of the swedes until approximately 5 hours after allocation. The consumption of the supplements was similar on both allowances until 5 hours post allocation, irrespective of swede intake, indicating that the harvestibility of the crop may have influenced the rate of intake. The cows continued to consume forage as baleage and hay with intake diverging with time.

Metabolisable energy intakes were calculated as 103 and 149 MJME/cow/d (470kg LWT XBred cows) for the Low and High allowances respectively, demonstrating the significant requirements for dairy cows wintered outdoors, grazing crops in situ.”
The NZ Grasslands Society has a new website where it is possible to look up the conference proceedings from the past 75 years. It is easy to search papers that refer to out wintering & forage crops. http://www.grassland.org.nz/index.php

Current UK Pasture Measurements
On farm conditions in parts of the Midlands is now serious. Some farms in Shropshire have only received 100-150ml of rain all of this year. Pasture covers & growth are very low & feed reserves almost non existent. In Australia dairy farmers regularly invoke "Cow Parking Arrangements" when crisis occur like fire or floods. Some farmers in Wales(who have had an unbelievable year)  might be able to offer Cow Parking options???? 
I was in Dorset this week where conditions have recovered after a very dry early summer. Farms are on target to hit their autumn pasture targets. On a farm with Chicory & Plantain plus clover pastures.....growth rates on the Chicory & the Plantain have been double the pasture growth rates. Those "herb pastures" were sown onto poor performance old pastures. Three times the DM has been harvested by the herd & its 20%CP & 13ME!! Fantastic result Gary & Will.
TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth (kgsDM/ha/day)
Cumbria, AFC 2600, growth 50, demand 48, clean grazing V difficult past 6 weeks, Mega wet August & Sept, pasture DM v low
Dumfries, Scotland, AFC 2360, growth 47, Growth & covers down cos wet & lower temps
Cheshire Organic, 1850, gr 15, de 29, feeding heavily rotation 48 days 18 litres/cow
Nth Wales, 2275, gr 45, de 43
Nth Wales 2400, gr 70, de 45
Staffordshire, 2300, gr 40, de 20, heavy feeding still very dry
Shropshire, 1600, gr 9, de 9, desparate for rain fully feeding herd. Only 150ml rain this year so far
Derbyshire, 2374, gr 49, de 52, PD cows 11% empty in 12 wks not as good as last yr
Herefordshire, 2000, gr 26, de 55, supplements 30, desparate for rain. Too busy feeding silage to watch rugby...its serious!
Herefordshire, 2240, gr 29, de 17 missed most of the rain but got 2mm
Pembrokeshire organic, 2250, gr 50, de 30 covers increasing no feeding yet
South West Wales 2460, gr 50, demand 40
Somerset Organic, 2500, gr 40, de 35
Hampshire 2726, gr 65, de 44
East Sussex, 2150, gr 35, 60% calved in 19 days Autumn calving
North Germany, AFC 1865, gr30 (500ml rain since start of August) very wet soils
Gloucestershire, 2550, gr 73, back on target


 

"Small No Glam".....I like it!

This week I passed an unhappy milestone.
In slightly under 10 years I have driven 600,000 miles in the UK.
This doesn’t include Ireland, Northern Ireland, Germany or France where I have used a rental car for farm consultancy business. It’s a long way by any measure!
As I pound along the M5 the stats play on my mind…....      600, 000 miles (or just short of a Million Kilometres) that’s approx 10,909 hours driving or the equivalent of 273 working weeks. (Nearly half of each year over the last 10 years I have spent driving on UK roads to & between dairy farms). At 40 MPG that’s 68,200 litres of petrol. OMG!

The Carbon foot print of that mileage is horrific. At approx 168gm CO2/km then the mileage over the last 9 years & 9 months is 168 Tonnes of CO2.
To this end I’ve tried to offset these emissions by establishing a tree planting on a nearby farm.
To those of you who are concerned about my mental state (after driving on average nearly 4 hours every working day for the past 9.75 years) don’t worry…..I believe they are coming to get me……Don’t Worry Be Happy (Bob Marley song)…..I’m in a very happy place with Tangerine sky…..Say goodbye to a tangerine sky say hello say hello to tomorrow(lyrics)……..oh dear!
“dont worry, be happy
dont worry, be happy
dont worry, be happy
dont worry, be happy
dont worry
dont worry be happy
don't worry, don't worry, don't do it,
be happy,put a smile on your face,
don't bring everybody down like this
don't worry, it will soon pass whatever it is,
don't worry, be happy,
i'm not worried”

On a slightly more serious note………..did you notice at the Dairy Event……maybe I got it wrong (Yeah Right!). I thought there was a direct relationship between the size & apparent glamour of the Site architecture (read expense) & the number of farmers on the site. The greater the expense the less people visiting the site!
As I say I may have got it wrong but I don’t think so.

I was so pleased to see (on the small no glam sites) our commercial friends were unbelievably busy. Take for example our friends at Kiwikit whose site was constantly crowded with lots of buzz & discussion.
Other examples of “Small No Glam” included our friends John Stones at Nuffield, Richard Capper & Steve Corkill at CSL-Varivac, Phil Evans & LMS, Barry at Agrinet, Wendy at Datag Kingswood, Bertie & his small team at Grasstec.
Long live “Small No Glam”
www.agrinet.ie, http://www.datag.co.uk/,  http://www.kiwikit.co.uk/,  http://www.liquidminerals.co.uk/,  http://www.nuffieldscolar.org/,   http://www.grasstec.ie/,  http://www.rcapperdairy.co.uk/,  
Now that the Dairy Event is over we can concentrate on really serious things like Rugby!
Lets give cows a break!

May I wish all my friends in Argentina, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Australia, South Africa, England, Wales & Scotland……the very best for the Rugby World Cup cos I think you’ll need it! To my close rugby following friends in France I love you guys but I just can’t bring myself to say……anyway to my French friends …have a good few matches, may your team Les Bleus enjoy their brief visit to New Zealand.
"Ka Mate: Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!

Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! I die! I die! I live! I live!
Tenei te tangata puhuru huru This is the hairy man
Nana nei i tiki mai Who fetched the Sun Whakawhiti te ra And caused it to shine again A upa ... ne! ka upa ... ne! One upward step! Another upward step!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra! An upward step, another.. the Sun shines!!
Hi !!! "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeYphXmGwa8
Enjoy everyone!
Current UK Pasture Measurements
TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth (kgsDM/ha/day)
Cumbria AFC 2543, Growth 49 adding 3kgs DM Very wet here.
Shropshire organic, 1358, growth 14, only had 208mm rain this year in total??????
Lincolnshire growth Very Good av 54 in really good shape cows doing well
Hereford, 2201, gr 24, de23, had 12 mm rain
Gloucestershire, 2387, gr 47, alot of rust have now had good rain
Dorset 2800, gr 82, de 43, chicory & Plantain growth 120-175kgsDM/ha/day
Dorset, 2550, gr 70 should hit 1st Week of Oct targets of 2700-2800

Farmer Mentoring...If You Want to Fly with the Eagles, Dont Mess around with the Turkeys!

I’ve just been re reading “Manhood” by Steve Biddulph. Every man & every Dad should read it.

"It’s a book that can have a profound influence on the reader be it man or woman. I started to think of the influence that some very special individual older men have had on my own career & life. On reflection I doubt that many if any, of these men realise what influence their “positivity” has had on me as a father, a life partner, as a pasture based dairy consultant & as a man working in agriculture. The true impact of being my mentor has been profound & so important to the attitudes I have not only about agriculture but about life it self.
I am very lucky..... I had what I thought was an idyllic childhood & a really positive relationship (but not fantasy land perfect) with my father & as a child all I wanted to be was to be like him….a farmer! As a young teenager my parents encouraged me to go onto University but never actually forcing me into agriculture. I think my Dad at one stage tried to talk me out of farming, this only served to make me reconsider, then to think about what I really wanted to do in agriculture & in dairying specifically. (My Dad was not a dairy farmer)"
However my thoughts today have been about the individual older men who I was to meet as a young man over the next 20-30yrs who were to have a profound influence on my thinking & my career.
Who were these men? They were not superman but some of them were outstanding in their professions or their words of wisdom were indelibly written into my head…they changed how I viewed my world, they sent me off asking questions or they simply set an outstanding example that I not only wanted to match but I decided I could do better.
Some of them have been (& continue to be) dairy farmers.....they drew me into the dairy industry
There was admiration & most importantly trust.
They willingly gave of their time.
They thought clearly & decisively they spoke abruptly & to the point.
They sent me looking in new directions & asking Why not?
They gave me an "I can do" ATTITUDE 
I owe them my MENTORS a great deal.

“It takes many men to turn a boy into a man” Steve Biddulph. http://web.me.com/stevebiddulph/Site_1/Home.html
If we look back into history, in nomadic peoples all of the men cared for all of the boys & young men collectively. In years not so long ago when most farming families depended heavily on the labour provided by the family & families were large…skills were learnt off Dad & Granddad, they were passed from eldest to youngest. Rural people often lived either near to or in the villages where they were either related to or well known to just about everyone.

Today farming has become an isolated profession. But for the pasture based dairy farming community to create a socially sustainable society (especially for our talented young people both male & female) we need to create an environment where Mentors thrive!
Probably the best known international mentoring system is “Big Brothers Big Sisters”.
http://www.bbbsi.org/about/ BBBS aims to help young people make positive decisions about their life choices. There are few examples in agriculture if any.
http://www.mumsnet.com/onlinechats/steve-biddulph
We need to start with our farming Dads. Being a parent is an incredibly challenging task. Being a Dad on a pasture based dairy farm has huge responsibilities. If you genuinely are happy in your job you will want to convey that enthusiasm & sense of fun to your children. Your children mainly want you as a Dad…..they want your time. They are going to take a dim view of absent Dads & Dads who can’t come to the sports day or can’t come away on holidays. They will have different attitudes to life from you….are you surprised….they were born into different times.
If farming doesn’t turn them on they will leave & who can blame them. Forcing them straight home from school might scar them for life.
Encouraging them into education & travel might give them wings to fly.
For goodness sake let’s not be negative about farming we have a lot we can be very positive about in pasture based dairying & we can do even more to create bright futures for our young people. Lets attract the most talented young women into agriculture too!
In Australia I ran & organised the Large Herds Conference…I would seek out the farmers at the top of their game to be speakers. After nine years a NZ farmer speaker pointed out to me that he was the 8th speaker to be mentored by one particular older farmer at Te Puke. Amazing that one individual had positively influenced so many high profile & successful farmers.
Testimony to the important power of great individual Farming Mentors.

If you are a Pasture based Dairy Farm Employer you have huge responsibilities regarding the young people you work with on your farm. Especially if your farm is the first farm job they have ever had or the first job after university or college. This could be a make or break relationship. I’m not too worried about you. I’m more concerned about losing another talented young person from pasture based dairying.
Some of my mentors were not family nor were they employers. In hindsight we somehow bumped into each other or our pathways crossed. I think what I’m really saying is that you never quite know when you might be a mentor or that some comments you make might have a much more profound influence than you meant at the time.
There’s a saying in radio….”You’re never alone with a microphone” the same is true of mentoring in agriculture.
Mentoring is Serious Men’s & Women’s business.

My advice to the talented young people entering our industry…..is “C’mon on down we need you!” You need to seek out the very best people in the industry & make sure you work with the very best people. You need to keep asking questions, join a top discussion group & mix with the best. You need to aim to be the best. You need to be in the top 5% in whatever you chose to do in agriculture. You can’t afford to be average. In 5 years time the average won’t still be farming. You need to find your heart in agriculture & love your chosen profession. Mix with positive people who will advance your career in the positive sector of UK Dairying!
“If you want to Fly with the Eagles don’t mess around with the Turkeys”
Current UK Pasture Measurements
There are two worlds in the land of grass....serious struggle in some counties. Heavy feeding & high risk of not meeting 1st Week in October Targets.
TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth (kgsDM/ha/day)
South Ayrshire, Scotland, AFC 2208kgs DM/ha, Pasture growth 22kgs DM/ha/day
Cumbria, AFC 2500, growth 54
Shropshire, 1562, gr 9 over 3weeks, demand 10, feeding 12kgDM, rotation 45days
Nottingham, 1870, gr 15, de 70, heavily feeding including winter forage????? Serious!
Staffordshire, Now green some growth still feeding alot
Herefordshire, 2170, gr 31, de 27, v Dry need rain feeding half demand
Hereford org 1900, gr 20, de 25 supplements 30kgs DM/ha V Dry will miss Oct Targets
Oxfordshire, 2150, gr 60, de 25 had some rain, seen 3 leaves 1st time for months
Hampshire, AFC 2730, growth 103, feeding covers of 3700, plenty of silage
Dorset, 2880, gr 46, lots clover rust in older leys, about to apply salt to pastures
Sussex organic, 1300, really struggling growth zero, silage clamp wide open
Brittany, France growth 48kgs struggling to control residuals VG summer after dry spring
SW Wales 2450, growth 51 lower than expected
Pembrokeshire organic, AFC 2117, growth 66, demand 30, silage paddocks back in round.