At Last it has Rained on Pasture Based Dairyfarms in the UK

It has rained! Photo I know this either doesnt look like a drought or I am putting mouth watering images on the blog..actually it was taken on the Somerset levels which is very heavy low lying country...but it does look seriously good doesnt it! Many of the pasture based dairy farms this week received 20-30mm of rain. It is a huge relief for everyone that it has rained. Hopefully we will get much needed follow up rain.
Most parts of the UK & many areas within the EU have had a long prolonged period of very dry conditions with very little rain. Look at the Spring 2011 graph for rainfall on the Metoffice site below.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/
It is very important that pastures get time to recover.
There are three important points to make now about grazing management:- Grazing rotations need to stay long until pasture plants have had time to let the parched root systems to recover. Photosynthesis needs water. Photosynthesis is the chemical process driven by light that converts CO2 to plant sugars & carbohydrates. However this process requires water. During the dry months the pasture plant root reserves (read carbohydrates) have been run down. Once water is again available the pasture plants are able to regain strength & build up root reserves. Once the roots have recovered energy reserves fresh leaf growth follows. If you don’t allow the pasture sward this “recovery time” or as Alan Lauder calls “Strategic rest” after rain you will impact severely on total pasture production. This is a timing issue. Carbon Grazing is an Australian concept from a very low rainfall area of Queensland but the basic principles are applicable here after a long unusual dry period. http://www.carbongrazing.com.au/
The second point is another really important grazing principle….when growth is slow grazing rotations need to be long. This is a feed budget issue associated with ryegrass plant growth to the 3 leaf stage. To keep the pasture grazing wedge intact you must keep the grazing rotation long until we are back to a normal season.
The last point to make is that after rain the dry matter % of pasture will fall. Pretty obvious perhaps but this will alter pasture plate meter readings. Photo-Brent Stirling from Cropmark NZ checking heading on a Matrix field in England. In fact the DM% changes daily dependant on sunshine, cloud cover, wind & rain.
Andre Voisin was a French born intensive pasture grazing researcher. He pioneered the concept of the S growth curve which is well known to all pasture based dairy farmers.
http://grassbasedhealth.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html
Today there are farmers like Abe Collins in the USA who are now pushing this concept even further with Holistic Grazing concepts. http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2006/0606/grazingtall/collins.shtml http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ix3JO2yo7s&feature=related Joel Salatin has many videos on YouTube that promote a similar approach to grazing & grass fed food. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT8y6T9wxuo&feature=related
Regardless of who you follow of these new pasture grazing gurus they are all working on the same basic principles of pasture growth & pasture resting…..its the timing that is being debated worldwide…..long may the debate continue!!
Chicory & Plantain Herbal Pastures Talking of timing………….the timing for grazing of chicory & plantain pastures is critical to the success of those pastures. The first grazing must NOT occur until there are fully 6 leaves per plant (again this is about the plant building root reserves/energy storage). Now that we are in the growth season for these herbal pastures you must keep on top of them to stop flowering & stem elongation. Target pre grazing covers should be 25-35cm & post grazing residuals should be 5-10cm. Cows will readily graze lower than 5cm but this must not be allowed to happen.At pre grazing heights of 25cm assume total yields of 3000kgDM/ha. A post grazing residue of 5cm will mean the cows have harvested 1500kgsDM/ha. To stop the chicory bolting pre grazing heights of 50cm should not be exceeded. Current UK Pasture Measurements
Pasture growth still very variable dependant on rain. The dissappointing thing is the cold air temperatures & lack of sunshine. Average Farm Covers increased slightly this week post rainfall.
TheAverage Pasture Cover (kgsDM/ha) & Pasture Growth (kgsDM/ha/day)
South Ayrshire, Scotland, AFC 2380 & pasture growth 85
Dumfries, Scotland, AFC 1900, gr 40, demand 45 constant rain but very cold
Cumbria, 2225, growth 62
Derbyshire, 2151, gr35, demand 65, 17mm rain
Herefordshire organic, 2214, gr45, demand 40 rain during week 36mm
Somerset organic, 1900, gr 25, demand 33 rotation 35 days
Dorset 2450, gr80 & demand 45 good rain but grumpy cows???
Dorset organic, 2100, growth 39, Silage fields now back in rotation,reygrass heading
East Sussex Organic, 1508 cover, growth 23 up on last week, lots of rain
Devon, 2220, gr55 feeding silage
South Kilkenny, Ireland, AFC 2039, gr55, demand 49 cover increased this week
Fish Creek, Gippsland Victoria,Australia AFC 2700, growth 32 approaching calving

My NBF (New Best Friend) Charles Darwin

I have a NBF & I've discovered Charles Darwin had a fascination with earthworms. What an extraordinary man & to my surprise what a relatively easy read. I found his words drew me into what is really a story of today about climate change, importance of soils to humanity, importance of pasture based farming. A great read & its online.....free! Charles Darwin was absolutely besotted & totally absorbed intellectually by earthworms. http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F1357&viewtype=side&pageseq=1
“It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as these lowly organised creatures “ & “Without the work of this humble creature, who knows nothing of the benefits he confers upon mankind, agriculture, as we know it, would be very difficult, if not wholly impossible”(Charles Darwin 1881)
Not only did Charles Darwin intensely study earthworms at Maer Hall in Staffordshire (home of his Uncle Josiah Wedgewood) & at his home in Down House in Downe Kent but his sons Francis & Horace were roped into counting & observing worms (for at least 15 years) ....imagine that today!http://www.maerestateholidaycottages.co.uk/cms.php?holiday=History http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/home-of-charles-darwin-down-house/garden/ I urge you to read some of this amazing (but easy to read) book….I suggest you try pages 129-137 for starters. http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F1357&viewtype=side&pageseq=1
Darwin outlines his trial where he spreads quick lime & then coal cinders onto the pasture at Maer Hall. He then observes for an amazing 21 years how earthworms cover up & eventually bury the two layers, which are to become his measuring markers. “The average annual increase of thickness for the whole period is 1·9 of an inch” (4.8cm/year). He was in effect growing top soil! Year on year the earthworms are growing the topsoil....in the book there is a diagram illustrating the new depth of topsoil after 21 yrs. This is incredible but so important to every pasture based dairy farmer....this is the engine room of your business.

Darwin estimated that a healthy English acre ought to have about 2,500,000 worms, turning out 18 tons of casts a year.There should as a rule of thumb be at least 25 earthworms per square spade full of top soil under pasture

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,765165,00.html#ixzz1Osjida2W

In a pasture based dairyfarm is it accepted that the quantity of “livestock” under ground in the soil needs to be the same as the kgs livestock above the ground.So if you want to increase the number of cows the implication is that you must increase the "soil livestock" too, otherwise it wont be in balance eg you wont produce the extra pasture either as a result of not looking after the soil. This is of massive importance. Fiona Hillman (Wyegraze DG) in her very good Nuffield study 2007 on earthworms emphasizes the need to provide this "soil livestock" with food, water & air in a healthy soil environment. http://www.nuffieldinternational.org/reports/report.php?y=2007 Fiona writes in her Nuffield report that :- “It has been estimated that with a healthy population of endogeic and anecic earthworms, 1100 miles of burrows could exist per acre, if undisturbed”

Hence her Darwin quote that :-“The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man’s inventions; but long before he existed the land was ploughed, and still continues to be ploughed, by earthworms”.We've got to stop ploughing & look to alternative technology!
Pasture based dairyfarmers are really “carbon” farmers. The pastures capture the sun’s energy through photosynthesis. The target annual pasture production is in excess of 10TDM per hectare in the UK. Dairy cows efficiently harvest the pasture to produce high quality milk, but that’s only half the story. Approximately 30-40% of the plant energy (carbohydrates) is fed through to the massive root system (a huge store for carbon). Much of this root material eventually ends up feeding a diverse soil biology including our friends the earthworms. The term “Carbon Grazing” is a concept of a very observant farmer in Queensland Alan Lauder. www.carbongrazing.com.au. Alan in his book “Carbon Grazing” says that “Rural producers have to manage their pastures so that all life in the soil is fed”. This is a really interesting comment but directly associated with carbon & soil organic matter. Fundamentally we need to shift our focus from cows & pastures to our soil & once we get there we need to zoom in on carbon. We cant forget cows or pastures but our profits & long term sustainability will depend on how successfully we as pasture based dairy farmers manage carbon & the carbon cycle on our farms. In his conclusion Alan writes that “Changes in the way we farm must be linked to changes in the way we think”
Current UK Pasture Measurements Pasture growth still very variable dependant on rain. Becoming quite serious in souther England, Germany & Brittany France
Keep grazing rotations long....a NZ visitor this week said hang in there as NZ had a very similar spring early summer then it turned & they had a brilliant autumn.

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

Northern Ireland, AFC 1987, Growth 65kgs, lots of rain & hail but cold

South Ayrshire, Scotland, 2269, gr 39 & demand 77, soil temp 14.3, expecting better growth

Cheshire organic, 2000, gr 20, demand30,feeding 3.6kg conc, mowing silage fields

Oxford, 2250, gr42, demand 38, rotation 32 days still very dry & grass heading

Gloucestershire, 2063, gr48, 12mm rain over week milk holding well

Somerset Organic, 1900, gr 25 currently raining heavily so growth should increase
Dorset, 2223, gr27, rotation 50 days pasture quality poor

Sussex organic, 1486, gr16. good rain this week....excitement!

Cornwall, 1930, gr43, demand 60, may go OAD early if no rain

South Kilkenny Ireland, 1969, gr35, demand 46

Northern Germany organic, 1970, gr45, demand 47, cows on OAD

Brittany, Finistere, France, AFC 1700, virtually NO growth, Looks like an Australian farm....what do you mean Erwan?

Summer of 2005 a distant memory in Brittany...did it really look like this????