Getting Ready for 2023 Dairy Season

By Michael Donoghue, B&T Dairy Adviser, Teagasc, Galway/Clare

The 2022 dairy season is almost finished on most spring calving herds. In the article below I will highlight some areas that will require some attention over the next few weeks before cows start calving again in February.

Grass:

In general 2022 will be remembered as a good grass growing year in Galway. Some will have suffered during the summer from a lack of rain, but for most dairy farmers growth and utilisation were good. Also silage stocks are health in most yards. While things are quite on the farm now take the time to walk the milking platform and complete a closing farm cover, ideally the AFC should be about 600 to 800 Kg DM/ Ha. This will vary depending on how dry your farm is and your calving profile. As you are walking the farm start to think about the paddocks that will be grazed first in the spring. So these will be drier, have good access and have a cover of 500 to 600KG DM/ Ha on them now.

If farm roads have not been maintained/ resurfaced already, make sure to get it done ASAP. So they have time to settle in and the freshly calved cows will have a kind surface to walk on.  If cows getting lame in the 1^st few months at grass, it will have very negative effects on her ability to go back in calf in May 2023.

Fertiliser:

Fertiliser costs in 2023 look likely to remain high, so been efficient with it has never been more important. Historically the value of a 2,000 gallon tanker of slurry was about €40 but with current prices, it is worth about €100 per load. Thus slurry is a very valuable fertiliser and should be managed to get the best results from it next spring. So wait till soils are starting to warm up, >6^O, ground is nicely dry, no rain is forecast and aim to use LESS slurry equipment to ensure maximum N retention. Also target slurry to silage ground as slurry is high in K and cutting silage removes a lot of K.

Soil sampling now a must for any grass farmer from a regulatory and financial point of view. New regulations will mean any farm stocked over 130KG N/ Ha must have valid soil samples, no older than 4 yrs and can represent no more than 5 Ha, or else they will be deemed to be P index 4, effectively meaning they will have no chemical P allowance. As important as this from the farmers own financial point of view, is that if soil fertility is below par in terms of Lime, P or K, N use efficiency can be reduced by 30 to 40%.

If not already, take the opportunity in 2023 to look at and maybe start the clover journey. Clover has the potential to provide 150Kg N/ Ha while increasing pasture quality. There are challenges with persistence and some have had bloat issues but clover is working and delivering financial and environmental benefits on Galway dairy farms.

BCS:

The general rule for dry cow periods are:

• Cows 8 Weeks
• 1^st Lactation Cows 12 Weeks

So for a 1^st lactation cow calving in the 1^st week of February she should be dry since 1^st November. If that same cow needed a bit extra TLC, so was lame, thin or expecting twins, etc, she would need an extra 2 to 3 weeks. The periods above are based on good silage, greater than 68 DMD, if this is not the case, ration will be required and/ or longer dry. Take the time now to look at your cows and separate those that need a bit of attention, while there is still time. Make sure dry cows get dry cow minerals at correct rate ideally twice a day, so all cows get their requirement

Banding:

New for 2023 will be the changes that will affect the nitrates loading of dairy cows or banding.  The table below summarises the new bands for dairy cows:

As can be seen the nitrogen loading for a dairy herd will be based on the average milk yield as measured by Kg per cow. There is 1.03Kg in a 1L, so if a herd averages more than 4,500 Kg or 4,370 L and less than 6,500 Kg or 6,310L, the cows in that herd will be weighted at 92Kg/ Ha. This is a 3 year rolling average so will iron out any good or bad years in terms of milk production. For farmers in the lower band the new system will actually be beneficial and for farmers in the middle band there will be no major change in terms for stocking rate.

However for high yielding herds in the top band the new changes are severe and will require careful managing/ planning. Now is a good time to see what band you herd will be in and see how this will affect your farm business.

Above are some key areas that will affect the profitability of the dairy business in 2023. Of course there are more that will need to be addressed but get the above correct and 2023 will start off a lot easier.