SOME PITFALLS IN SAYING AUTUMN PASTURES FOR SPRING FEEDING: EARLY CALVERS NEED GREEN GRASS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 25, 24 April 1950, Page 5

SOME PITFALLS IN SAYING AUTUMN PASTURES FOR SPRING FEEDING: EARLY CALVERS NEED GREEN GRASS

Although pasture grow is creasing during tiie six weeks from about the middle of August to the beginning of October it is far from sufficient in quantity to fully feed the early-calving cows and yet about half of our cows calve before the middle of August. The ieding-out of enough good silage or of silage with some good hay will certainly help to feed the cows at this time but silage or silage this time but silage or silage and hay or hay alone are inadequate for birning cows into full milk produc-

tion. A daily ration of lactogenic pasturage along with the silage and hay is essential. But where is this milk production pasturage to come T'rom? •/ Wasteful Autumn Feeding

In a normal season the flush of

growth after the autumn rains pro- , duces foder of high quality for milk production. To use all of it for feeding to cows which are close to the end of their lactation is extremely wasteful, for at that time they require neither much food nor as highquality food as they do earlier in the season. Research work by agricultural cliemists at Ruakura enquiring into the nutritive value of

autumn-saved pasturage along with the experience of many faimers on their own farms have shown similar results. These results are that this autumn growth of pastures, if left ungrazed and stored “in the sod” where it has grown, and not grazed until the late winter and early spring, still has 'a high food value for milking cows when grazed in the spring and indeed or almost as good as spring growth. Now is 'the time to save this precious pasturage and to store ";it for use in the early spring when it will be invaluable. The cows do not require it now and they certainly will * , equire it . after calving and before pastures will be producing enough

in the spring. On farms carrying not less than' 2 <cows to 3 acres from one-third to one-half of the farm should be closed for autumn-saved pasture. Where recovery from fields which Will be rationed-off first in the spring can be expected to be quick enough t 6 give a second grazing be.fore the beginning of October the lesser area may be sufficient. On cow to the acre farms the area closed may be reduced to <as Jittle as one-fifth of the grazing area as at Ruakura. Besides enabling cows to reach their full production at about six weeks after calving and so laying the foundation for maximum butterfat production per cow, the saving of sufficient autumn grass enables the earlier closing and the earlier cutting of fields for silage and hay. This in turn results in. quicker and better aftermaths and more and better grazing and so, in yet another way, the saving of autumn pastures for spring feed contributes towards maximum production. Closing Too Soon

The recommended stage of growth at which feeding-off of autumnsaved pasturage should take place is about eight to nine inches. If a pasture be left for too long before grazing, severe damage to the white colver through smother, is likely. If therefore, an autumn-saved pasture reaches the eight-nine inch stage of growth some time before the cows calve, it should quickly be grazed down to about two-three inches to let the light into the bottom. This grazing would reduce the quantity of saved grass for the spring, however, and a decision will have to be made as to whether the pasture will be grazed and saved from further deterioration and the cows get less in the early spring, or cows be fully fed then and pasture weakened now. This decision can be avoided by not closing fields too soon. From the middle of April to the middle of May is about the best time to close fields for autumn-saved pasture and the later closing should be done on well-drained soils where the graz'ing has been lenient - and where HI ryegrass is dominant. To save autumn pasturage for the spring, feeding-out must begin before it actually seems to be necessary, for under the normal farm practice in the North Island of refraining from feeding-out hay and silage until mid-June and of hard

The following article was prepared for the Beacon by Mr E. R. Marryatt, fields instructor, Department of Agriculture, Whakatane, from a radio talk broadcast by him over IYZ on April 13. Because of power cuts in different areas the talk was not heard by a great number of farmers. For obtaining anything like the greatest possible production of butterfat per cow in any season the first essential \is that the cows must calve four to six weeks before pastures are likely to begin to grow really well. Having calved at the right time they must then, from a day or two after they have calved, receive “lactogenic” or milk-producing fodder.

grazing pastures up till then, there is no likelihood of being able to save enough autumn growth.

More Hay And Silage This beginning of feeding-out of hay and silage in June is far too late. Silage-feeding on the allgrass farm should usually begin in the late summer and continue right through to October with varying amounts fed according to requirements, say, 201 b silage daily for each cow in the dry late summer and autumn/ reduced to IOJ.b during the autumn flush and increased at calving to 561 bif no autumnsaved pasturage is then available. Hay feeding in addition to the silage and the\ autumn-saved pasturage should be at least 121 b daily for each cow from the beginning of June. As opposed to this, the general thing is to feed very little silage or none at all and only from 10 to 141 b hay daily for each cow from June to October and’’ this is barely a maintenance ration. Verily “half the cows are half-fed for half the time.”

Until enough silage and hay is saved to feed the stock adequately from February to October there is no possibility of saving enough autumn grass. Adequate reserves of hay and silage must first be built up in the spring and summer. Selecting Pastures

The fields to be closed for autumn saved pasture should be those which will give a good yield of green material and which will recover quickly. They should contain a high percentage of white clover and ryegrass. • - Closing pastures in the autumn for spring grazing has a similar effect to closing for hay and silage; clover tends to be weakened by smother, the sward is likely to open up and allow entry of weeds, and winter-growing grasses like vy grass, cocksfoot and Yorkshire fog increase in vigour. Fields for autumn-saved pastures should therefore be carefully selected and like hay, silage, other crops and livestock, should be rotated around the farm. Avoid those fields which are wet and cold, those which are badly drained and badly sheltered, and those which are liable to poach. And also avoid those fields which are already weak in white clover and strong in Yorkshire fog. Having selected the most Suitable fields, give them a good “clean-up” grazing followed by a chain-har-rowing and topdressing, and close them now to all stock until the cows begin to calve.