Dairy Newsletter - July 2023

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In this month's edition:

• Top five tips July 2023
  • Finish AI and pull the bull: stick to your planned breeding end date.
  • Complete a fodder budget: after the dry spell through June, some farms were forced to introduce fodder to maintain grass covers as growth rates dropped.
  • Grass quality: as grass growth recovers, continue to target pre-grazing yields of 1,300-1,400kg DM/ha.
  • Walk your farm weekly: over the last few weeks, farms have been running at lower covers due to dry weather.
  • Prepare roadways for autumn: autumn is a high-risk time for lameness.
• Cash flow management
  Volatility in both dairy farm revenues and input costs over the last 12-18 months has been unprecedented, and has brought major challenges for farm management. As we begin to move past peak milk and peak workload, it is important to set out a finance/cash flow plan.
• Relief milking – more than just holiday cover
  We have surveyed quite a number of dairy farmers this spring to gauge labour structures on farm. While many dairy farmers employ someone to complete a number of milkings each week, our initial results show that many others have no ‘set time off’ in the normal week, and possibly only take a week’s holidays in summer and some time in winter.
• Health and Safety - Farm Safety Week 2023
  July is the most dangerous month of the year on farms so extra vigilance is needed. A lot of hazardous work takes place, particularly with machinery, while safety for children needs special attention. Farm Safety Week takes place commencing Monday July 17, view the programme here