ES-Eoragfog Aroundl/ancaster Farmihg,' Saturday,' September 3*3,,2003 Potential To Improve Profits On Pasture Submitted by Dave Hartman PFGC Vice President At the 2003 Pennsylvania Grazing and Forage Confer ence, we were fortunate to have two brothers from Ire land as keynote speakers. John Roche is a dairy nutri tion researcher in New Zea land. His brother Tom runs the family dairy operation in Ireland. The Roches have studied opportunities in the dairy business outside of their native Ireland. The Roches spoke on sev eral topics at the conference. One of those topics included some comments regarding observations from their vis its with grazing dairies in the U.S. in 2001. The fol lowing are areas where the brothers believe farmers could further improve the profitability of their grazing farms. Here is what they wrote: The use of nitrogen fertil izer is one of the keys to high ly profitable pasture-based dairy farming. Bearing in mind that some areas will have environmental regula tions dictating how much ni trogen can be applied (many of which will not be science based), but in a non-quota en vironment, nitrogen should be used to the point where the marginal response to nitrogen is no greater than the cost of supplements, or to the maxi mum safe level, whichever is YOUR GRAZING ACRES & PROFITS WITH OUR 2003 was a challenging year to harvest stored forage. Add a grazing system to your farm to reduce harvest risk and increase forage quality. Sugars, vitamins, and other factors are at their best Cow comfort on pasture is also excellent Great forage quality combined with cow comfort results in cows that last longer - and more lifetime profit per cow! lowest. Nitrogen fertilizer serves several purposes. Firstly, pasture does not grow without nitrogen and soil nitrogen does not become available until soil tempera tures exceed 46-50 degrees Farenheit. On the other hand, modem pasture species grow at temperatures as low as 39 degrees, with some annual ryegrasses even growing at 36 degrees. Therefore, early ap plication of nitrogen is essen tia] in producing early pas ture. In Ireland we apply approximately SO pounds of nitrogen (110 pounds of urea) per acre in January. Nitrogen produces a sward with larger leaves and hence greater di gestibility. Nitrogen helps prevent the effects of drought and severe cold. Nitrogen is not the only nu trient that will limit pasture production. It is important that soil is also tested for other mineral nutrients, espe cially phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur concentration. Low levels of these nutrients will reduce pasture production and either limit the stock car rying capacity of the land or increase the need for more ex pensive supplements. Offer supplements during periods of feed deficit. When post-grazing pasture residuals are too low (below 2 inches in spring and below 2.5 to 3 inches in summer/autumn), milk production will be re- Toil Free: 1-866-687-6224 duced. The price of milk compared with the price of grain sug gests that farmers will receive an economic response to sup plementing cows during this period. Furthermore, there is a carryover effect in higher body condition score and higher yielding cows when the feed deficit passes. However, it is important to continue monitoring post-grazing resid uals so that you are not offer ing too much supplement and that you remove supplements when sufficient pasture is available once more. It would appear (from our limited view) that you will be able to buy supplements for less than you will produce them yourself. Remember, dairy farmers generally make the worst cropping farmers. This allows you to increase stocking rate and maximize production and utilization of pasture. Simple feeding sys tems are required. Energy will be the primary limiting nutri ent in a pasture-based system. -Therefore, an energy supple ment that can be fed simply (e.g. in the milking shed) will remove time and labor con straints, when compared with mixing and feeding a TMR, and will allow you to milk more cows per labor unit. Don’t believe confine ment system operators or feed merchants when they tell you that pas ture is a poor quality/ unbalanced feed and that you therefore need to complement (add to) it. Pasture will not result in the same milk yields as high input systems because of the difference in dry matter intake and energy expended in grazing and walking. However, high quality spring pasture is every bit as nutritious as a TMR and only a frac- Our Mixes Will Improve Your Farm’s Profitability ■ ini*#* Mfamrnm l havqrazino mix frilndlymix Combination of tat* head- Our most drought tolerant mix. Sfcnlltrto King* Grazing ingperenntol ryegfawea, Make earty eutofot hayjhan Mk; bbtwlli pKwktealttfie orchardgraaees, dovere, add to yew gnßlnfl rotation, mote summer production and chicory. Excellent tor Should be rested 3-4 weekb because it has ARI eft grazing. Surplus growth between harvests andNOT harmed ryograaa wfeetter makes excellent Mage mowed shorter town 3’. An ftaat resistance, and more or haylage, alfalfa graaa blend. drought tolerant grasses High Yields! New! Very Palatable! GREEN FAST HILLSIDE MIX DAIRY PLUS Fast establishing high A mix of premium orchard- This is our most palatable yielding mix designed for grasses, Paddock Meadow mix and should make the short term (3 yrs ) forage Brome, and a bit of Tivoli highest milk yields - but fields Great for grazing, Per Ryegrass with lots of requiresthebestsoilB.lt balage and haylage Ex- Alice white dover and some is a ryegrass Timothy cellent for renovating thin Cyclone Red clover Ideal for and clover blend pastures and hay fields hillsides and organic farms tion of the cost In addition, a pasture system will generally reduce your labor costs and your animal health costs sig nificantly. High quality pas ture is arguably the most bal anced feed ingredient available for dairy cows. Therefore, supplement cows only when pasture supply is limiting. Avoid unnecessary capital costs. It is often said that New Zealand farmers do not spend money on capital items. This is untrue. They do not spend money on unnecessary capital items. In our short trip through the U.S. we saw farmers able to forego winter housing, even in northwestern New York, while other farm ers had spent a considerable amount of money on housing. Consider your capital spend ing carefully. Depreciation and interest repayments are real costs and reduce your re turn on assets considerably. Don’t get fooled into talk ing about your income over feed costs. Although a useful benchmarking exercise to compare yourself with your neighbors, it does not tell you how successful your farm re TOP HAY CROPS 3pt, Hitch Rotary Rake In transport Rotary'ftt Available in 9' & 14 models. Botfr models have spring tines & tilt adjustment Can be adapted for horse use. Call Us About All Our Tractor & Horse Drawn Equipment r Stud Senrtoea Avelleble 'fbte I&J HtiLf mWW >&J Manufacturing 5302 Amish Road • Gap, PA 17527 • 717/442-9451 ally is. This is somewhere where pasture-based systems have the ability to make con siderable profitability gains when compared with confine ment systems. You must cal culate all your costs (includ ing your own and family labor) and use this to de termine your true cash sur plus and your return on as sets. Research into appropriate pasture management strate gies and farm systems will be necessary for you to de termine the appropriate over seas advice to apply here. It appears that most research in the U.S. is undertaken in con finement systems (with some notable exceptions at Penn State and North Carolina State University). Research into pasture-based systems may require farmer funding. In both New Zealand and Ire land, we have a dairy levy that is both voluntary (majori ty of farmers voted for it) and compulsory (all farmers then have to pay for it) which funds research and extension. Farmers fund approximately with lAJ equipment Rotary Rakes Available m 3pc. or trailing, engine driven, PTO, or ground drive. Engineered to hold up on rugged terrain. Mowers • Scissors action cutting • T working width • No plugging! (Turn to Page E 7)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers