RATIONING MONITOR

Now that all the harvests have finished and maize silage has come into diets it could be well worth checking that the balance of the overall diet is correct. Cows are now housed and on full winter rations with fresh grass a dim and distant memory. Have you taken account of the difference in dry matter between October grass and grass silage? Do you know the dry matter and starch value of your maize silage? These questions need to be answered before your cows will perform correctly. For example recent trial work has shown that if the dry matter of maize silage is above 32% the intake could be decreased by as much as 3kgs fresh weight which equates to over 2 litres of milk in energy terms.

We are more than willing to help you ration your herd and monitor progress carefully. If you would like to see one of our nutritionists please ring the office on 01948 661602 to arrange a meeting. With ever increasing costs it must be essential that you ration your cows correctly to maximise the benefits out of your resources during a time of low returns.