determining stocking RATES BY FEED BUDGETING W. J. Parker, L. D. Muller S. L. Fales Penn State In a previous article, we dis cussed why stocking rate is a very important factor in a pasture farm ing system. To briefly recap, stocking rate (or the number of animals per unit area cows/acre) affects lives tock herbage intake, the types of pasture species present in the sward, and the amount of herbage utilized. Selecting an appropriate stocking rate is complicated by the large amount of variation in her bage growth between years and between months within years. Planning is therefore usually based on an average year and other strategies (for example, feeding of additional supplements, changing the herd size, or making less hay/ silage) are used to compensate for variation in herbage growth within a season. A feed budget provides one way to estimate what stocking rate should be adopted. In an earlier article, a feed budget was defined as a numerical description if a grazing system through time. The feed budget describes the balance between feed supply (herbage growth + cut forage + concen trates) and animal feed require ments (number of animals x intake per animal) through time. A feed budget can therefore be likened to a cash flow budget which shows the relationship between income and expenditure over time. The construction and operation BOSS HOG WOVEN WIRE They're Talking About Boss Hog! The wive with the It’s More Than A Sales Gimmick. It’s Proof That You Are Getting Genuine Boss Hog Woven Flooring. So Look For The “Bump” To Be Sure You’re Getting The Best... Boss Hog Woven Wire! Our Great New Boss Hog Super Heavy 3 Bx 2, 5 16 Gauge Galvanized - To Fit Your Needs! Tired Of Replacing Woven Wire... SEE US NOW! Other Gauges Also Available. We Ship UPS 24 Hour Service Swine ft Poultry Systems Speckihlt PARMER BOY AG. MC *lO E LINCOLN AVE MYERSTOWN PA 17067 PH: 717-866-7565 Hours Mon-Fti 700 to S.OO. Selurdey 730 to 1130 1.2 S of a feed budget is relatively simple. The data required are: • Herbage growth rates (lb DM/ acre/day). • Pasture area (acres). • Livestock numbers by class (milking cows, dry cows etc.). • Livestock feed intake require ments of pasture, cut forage, and concentrates (lb DM/head day). The budget can be prepared on a daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, or seasonal basis. For strategic planning (that is, developing an overall grazing plan), monthly time periods are commonly used. A simplified example monthly budget for milking cows only for the first 3 months of the grazing season is shown below. It is assuming that April 16 is the turn out date, that the average herbage cover at this time is 1,200 pounds DM/acre and that estimated cows are averaging about S 5 pounds of milk per day. EXAMPLE FEED WIDGET FOR A DAIRY FARM Nm (wring* growth (b DM tcri/day) Days p»r month Pastor* iru (kin) TOTAL HERBAGE SUP- PLY (lb DM/mofflh) 22500 Miking cows (hwad) SO Htrtwg* intaka (b DM/ cow/day) 24 Concamrat* intafca (lb OM/monlh) IB TOTAL HERBAGE DE- MAND (b OM/monlh) 16000 HERBAGE SUPPLY- DEMAND (b DM/monlh) 4500 Haring* covar chang* (b DM/aera) 90 END OF MONTH HERB- AGE COVER (b DM/ acra) This shows that 22,500 lb. pas ture DM is expected to be pro duced during the second half of April (30 lb. DM/acre/day x 15 MOST ECONOMICAL MOST DURABLE REDUCES SCOURS NON SKID FOOTING Check Our Ware- House Prices NG URE MENT JrV/V Miy Jum April 52500 50 62000 SO 41850 12000 20150 1290 1933 1693 1992 BARN PAINTING SPRAY & BRUSHING To farm building owner* Under today's farm economy it la time to reduce maintenance frustrations. Do you remember of hearing of barn painting of approximately 75 years ago that it stayed nice longer? lasted 25 years? In recent years many of these good old barn surfaces have been ruined by over coating, poor preparation and application, lack of controlled paint placement and film thickness. The time Is coming to salvage our buildings (a) Start over (b) Water blast (c) RESURFACE (d) Use solid slain to penetrate on bare spots! (e) Second coat with a breathing film thickness (f) Brush out in all directions with finest of bristles. Really It Is not as complicated as the recent changing regulations on clean milk production, or wet soils, or zoning. It Is also less expensive than other barn painting experiences! Observation #2 Colored water (latex) Is less desirable for farm buildings. There is a long list of reasons for this. Observation »3 Todays painted metal siding and roofing has a remarkably short life. Bad alloy or metal. There might be another list of reasons for this. To save It at reasonable coating cost - timing Is Important. Observation *4 Today's wood selection for sid ing etc. Is also poor. How about recycling build ing material? For tree estimates of barn painting call 215-445'6186 or write ) PHARES s. hurst \«i 233 E. Maple Grove Rd. Narvon, PA 17555 BRUNING PAINT days x SO acres of pasture). The feed demand for the milking cows is 42 lb. DM/cow/day (24 lb pas ture DM +lB lb. concentrate DM) or a monthly pasture requirement of 18,000 lb. DM (24 lb. DM/day x SO cows x IS days). The balance between herbage supply and demand is 22.500 -18,000 = 4,500 lb. DM. This means that the aver age pasture cover is expected to increase by 90 lb. DM/acre (2,250 lb. Dm/50 acres) to 1,290 lb. DM/ acre by the end of April. Similar calculations are com pleted for May and June (except the amount of grain in the ration has been decreased slightly to IS lb./cow/day as the cows have adapted to grazing). The calcula tions should be extended through to late October (or die end of the grazing season). A feed budget format for this purpose can easily be set up with a computer spread sheet or with a calculator and note pad. While the feed budget makes a lot of assumptions about herbage quality and losses, its main strength is that an overview of the grazing system can be quickly obtained. The accumulating surp lus in May indicates that silage/hay should be made, a declining her bage cover in summer indicates that increased supplementation is required and so on. Thus, you can quickly puge what stocking rate is suited to your pasture conditions (i..e. when herbage growth and animal intake requirements are approximately balanced for the season). Alternatively the budget shows how much of the daily ration can be provided by pasture. This is an important piece of information, especially where the pasture area is small relative to the number of cows (i.e. the stocking rate is high). On these farms the feed budget may show that it would be more profitable to use pastures to provide nearly all the the ration for the dry cows and replacement heifers. An immediate limitation of feed budgeting for Pennsylvania dairy men is the lack of herbage growth information in contrast to availa bility to measure forage produc tion under a stored feeding prog ram. This data is obviously a basic part of a feed budget plan, and is the reason why a lot of emphasis has been given to measurement of herbage growth and quality in the Penn State pasture experiments. Computer programs are also being developed that will predict how herbage grows from tempera ture, rainfall, day length, and soil fertility data. This means that her bage growth rates could be pre dicted for individual farms at a low cost, and will also enable the effect of different climate conditions (for example, a wet spring or dry sum mer) to be estimated. This type of information is very useful for developing contingency plans (such as, what should I do if the original plan for an average grow ing season is not working?) If you are not already collecting rainfall and soil temperature data (at 4-inch depth), then we believe that it would be worth starting. It will prove an excellent investment Forage Growers Can Direct-Seed Companion ST. PAUL, Minn. Forage growers who demand high-quality alfalfa that results from direct seeding, yet require a companion crop to control erosion during stand establishment, needn’t despair. They can reap the benefits of both practices by “direct seeding" with a companion crop, said Dr. Roger Becker, extension agronomist from the University of Minnesota. In research comparing solo and companion alfalfa stand establish ment with and without herbicides, Becker evaluated alfalfa yield and quality to determine the most effective stand establishment techniques. Usually the highest alfalfa yields and highest relative feed values (RFV) were obtained by seeding alfalfa with oats, then removing the oats during early growth with a postemergent grass herbicide what he calls “direct seeding” with a companion crop. Traditional direct-seeded alfal fa treated with a postemergent grass herbicide for weed control also scored high in the yield and quality categories. “Companion cropping with alfalfa is a traditional practice that has served the Midwest well, with more than 80 percent of fanners using this system,” said Becker. However, companion crops, like when the computer models become available (maybe in as little as two years time), but also has very useful applications for other aspects of your farming oper ation (e.g. com planting). You can also start to collect herbage growth rate data using one of the tech niques that we described in an ear lier article. ‘Techniques For Mea suring the Rate of Herbage Growth Here Are Some Formulas For Planned Grazing.” If you are using intensive graz ing, we would recommend that you take the time to construct a feed budget for your farm. You will be pleasantly surprised how much this can contribute to impro ving your pasture management, getting the stocking rate correct for your farm, and increasing the pro fitability and profitability of grazing. With Crop weeds, compete with the alfalfa for water, sunlight, and space. As that competition continues, alfalfa yields and forage quality decline. “Direct-seeding” with a com panion crop protects soil from ero sion, conserves soil moisture, and prevents weed invasion, explained Becker. To “direct-seed” with a com panion crop, Becker suggests planting an economical oat seed and spraying the oats early (when two to six inches tall) with a post emergent herbicide. Because the crop will be removed early, grow ers can increase the oat seeding rate from the typically recom mended 1.5 bushels per acre, to 2 to 2.5 bushels per acre. The oat residue left behind will help pro tect alfalfa from initial weed inva sion and a secondary weed flush. Becker presented this informa tion in “Weed Control in Alfalfa,” a satellite videoconference spon sored by the agricultural products division of BASF Corporation. 4<^
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