On Wednesday September 6th 2023 farmers got an opportunity to learn about the Teagasc Winter-Milk Research Programme. The programme is researching the technologies and practices available to ensure that Winter Milk farms are equipped to embrace and overcome any future challenges within the industry.
Information on the day covered:
Johnstown Castle Research Centre is part of the Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme. It also has dairy and beef research herds.
The Johnstown herd was established in 2003 to provide a base for Winter-Milk systems research in Teagasc.
It provides a centre for research, training and dissemination.
Aidan Lawless, Rioch Fox, John Murphy, Joe Patton and Padraig French
The hers is a split calving herd with 90 autumn calving cows and 50 spring calving. No cow is recycled between seasons.
The same genetic selection criteria is used:
| July 2023 | JC Autumn Cows | JC Spring Cows | National Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| EBI | 206 | 211 | 167 |
| Milk | 78 | 58 | 48 |
| Fertility | 87 | 99 | 71 |
| Carbon | -2 | 6 | 7 |
| Calving | 35 | 39 | 29 |
| Beef | -3 | -6 | -4 |
| Maintenance | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| Management | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Health | 3 | 5 | 6 |
The 10 week breedinf season starts on December 12th. Calving season starts between the 12th and 15th of September, with a mean calving date of October 9th.
Eligible cows 18/19 to 22/23
| JC Autumn cows | Target | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 day submission rate – % | 80 | >90 |
| Pregnancy rate to 1st service – % | 57 | 60 |
| 6 week calving rate – % | 78 | >80 |
| 10 week empty rate – % | 13 | <10 |
| Calving interval – days | 370 | <370 |
| Replacement rate – % | 23 | 20 – 22 |
Milk Yield – 7540kg
Fat – 4.52%
Protein – 3.66%
Milk solids – 616kg
Body weight – 604kg
Milk solids kg/kg BW – 1.02
Concentrate fed – 1602kg
Turnout – February 1st or earliest weather window
First rotation grazing targets:
Short grazing bouts when needed – 2-3 hours after milking to help achieve grazing targets
Winter forages adjusted based on grass supply and removed ASAP
April to August grass wedge.
Summer grazing targets:
1st cut silage – early, target high quality
Milking cow – 72-76% DMD
Dry cow – 64-67% DMD
Maximise pasture in the diet and compliment with a high energy 15% crude protein concentrate
Freshly calved cows can struggle on heavy autumn covers
Autumn grazing targets
Covers measured weekly throughout the grazing season
198kg cheminal N/ha
Reduced N on clover swards
Cumulative t DM/ha:
National and European Union policy;
EU currently imports 71% of high-protein feed use ingredients
Concerns:
A study conducted from 2019 to 2021 compared standard TMR to ‘home-grown’ ration. It was a 2 year whole lactation system study (n=86) Treatment was predominantly during winter feeding period
The homegrown diet reduced milk production performance. There was a number of potential causative factors including concentrate ingredientsand maize silage exclusion.
Home grown concentrates included field beans and native barley.
Imported hi-protein concentrates included soybean and maize.
A further study in 21/22 only replaced the hi-protein concentrate ingredients – some forages
There was an 8 week indoor feeding and 6 week carry-over periods (n=84)
The home-grown hi-protein ingredients reduced milk production. This is likely due to inadequate metabolisable protein/amino acid supply
Potential solutions to overcome inadequate metabolisable protein/amino acid supply
Home grown diest can:
However, reduced milk productionperformance was observed
Enteric methane emissions are a by-product of feed digestion within the rumen. They account for 62.5% of Irish agriculture emissions. A 25% reduction in emissions is required by 2030
| High EBI | Average EBI | |
|---|---|---|
| Milk yield – kg/day | 22.0 | 21.9 |
| Milk solids – kg/day | 1.93 | 1.78 |
| Methane – g/day | 305 | 301 |
| Methane – g/kg MS | 158 | 169 |
3-NOP – inhibits an enzyme involved in the last step of methane formation in the rumen. It is a promising additive internationally and needs to be proven under Irish conditions.
Irish Winter-milk indoor feeding period offers a viable opportunity to incorporate 3-NOP into the diet of dairy cows.
To investigate the effect of 3-NOP on the methane production of Irish Winter-Milk cows
2 week covariate and 7 week experimental periods.
44 cows/treatment
3-NOP added as Bovaer – 231g/cow – 0.8% 3-NOP
| Ingredient, kg DM/cow | Control | Additive |
|---|---|---|
| Grass silage | 7 | 7 |
| Maize silage | 7.2 | 7.2 |
| TMR concentrate | 6 | 6 |
| Parlour and Greenfeed concentrate | 2 | 2 |
| 3-NOP, g/cow/day | – | 1.8 |
| Forage proportion | 64 | 64 |
| Total DMI | 22.2 | 22.2 |
Milk yield increased from 29.8 to 30.4 kg/day
% protein increased from 3.51 to 3.57
% fat increased from 4.60 to 4.63
Milk solids increased from 2.45 to 2.50 kg/day, a 2% increase
Methane reduced from 447 to 330 g/day, a 26% reduction
The methane reduction in g/kg milk solids went from 182 to 132 a 27% decrease
| Costs | 2021 | Proj – 2022 | Act. 2022 | Diff. ’21 VS ’22 | Proj. 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed | 553 | 852 | 745 | +192 | 745 |
| Fertiliser | 148 | 369 | 253 | +105 | 183 |
| Vet | 91 | 100 | 101 | +10 | 109 |
| AI/ Breeding | 46 | 51 | 51 | +5 | 55 |
| Contractor | 163 | 244 | 182 | +19 | 182 |
| Other Var. Costs | 176 | 194 | 196 | +20 | 212 |
| Total Var. Costs | 1177 | 1811 | 1528 | +351 | 1482 |
| Total Fixed Costs | 757 | 871 | 869 | +112 | 904 |
| Total Costs | 1934 | 2682 | 2397 | +463 |
2386 |
| 2022 Co- op Data | Av. Winter | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Production | ||
| Milk Kg | 6107 | 6428 |
| Solids Kg MS | 464 | 540 |
| Fat % | 4.21 | 4.60 |
| Protein % | 3.49 | 3.80 |
| SCC | 197 | 100 |
| Fertility | ||
| Calving Int. | 412 | 370 |
| 6 wk Calving % | 48 | 85 |
| % AI Bred Repl. | 63 | 100 |
| % Heifers calved 22-26mths | 50 | 100 |
| Genetics | ||
| EBI | 117 | 200 |
| Av. EBI of 2023 Bull Team | 248 | 320 |
