Getting Stocking Rates Right & Integrating the Outside Block

Transcription

1 Getting Stocking Rates Right & Integrating the Outside Block Brendan Horan & Donal Patton Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co Cork. Phone: web: Follow us: Moorepark2019

2 Strategy for Resilient Dairying A farm system which provides a vehicle for enjoyable & sustainable farm business growth within a turbulent production environment Simple & labour efficient with minimal decision making interventions Comparatively insulated from milk price & climate instability Consistently meeting profitability expectations (profit/ha & costs/kg MS) Producing high quality product in an environmentally friendly manner

3 SR & Cow Numbers on Irish Dairy Farms Year Average herd size (No. cows) No. cows in herds with > 100 cows Stocking rate (LU/ha) , , , Trends in National Milk Solids Production & Dairy Cow Numbers ( ) Milk Solids (kg) 200 Dairy Cow Numbers Year No. Dairy Cows Milk solids ('000 ton/year) 600 Cow numbers at 1988 levels Industry output +62% Milk solids/cow +20% in 10 years

4 Grazing 1.0: Realising the Optimum Stocking Rate: Surplus + Rate of pasture growth (kg DM/ha/yr) Control factors: climatic variables soil fertility & drainage plant species management Deficit - Rate of pasture consumption (kg DM/ha/yr) Control factors: level of pasture allocated (kg DM/cow) Supplementation (kg DM/cow) Stocking rate (cows/ha) Calving date and pattern

5 Animal management for grass-based systems kg DM / Hectare daily Daily pasture growth rate Daily herd feed requirement 100 Alignment of Grass Supply & Animal Requirements Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec % of cows in the herd 100 Spring 80 CALVE Compact calving, high fertility status dairy herd 60 Summer 285+ DIM Winter DRIED-OFF CONCEIVE Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication Leonardo da Vinci.

6 Linking Stocking Rate to Average Grass Growth Why is this so difficult to adhere to in practice.?? Outside/fragmented land blocks Average' G ro w th (k g D M /h a /d a y ) Cheap feed options Eliminating expensive silage conservation Creating labour/infrastructure utilisation efficiencies Building equity by growing stock numbers Date 2018

7 Appropriate Stocking Rate (SR) SR is the main driver of productivity from grazing systems due to its effect on herbage utilisation (McMeekan and Walshe, 1963; Macdonald et al., 2008; McCarthy et al., 2011) Milk yield (kg/ha) A 1 cow per hectare increase in SR - 9% in MS/cow +11% increase in MS/ha - 42 day reduction in lactation length Stocking rate (cows/ha) The ideal SR is a medium/balance of the dual objectives of generous feeding to achieve high production/animal and restriction to achieve high pasture utilisation (Penno, 1999) But traditionally negative environmental effects at farm level(treacy et al., 2008) Increased fertilizer and concentrate supplementation N loss to ground water

8 Relationship between SR and Farm Profitability 2017 Net Farm Profit ( /ha Dairy Enterprise) 6,000 R² = ,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1, Whole Farm Stocking Rate (LU/ha) (G. Ramsbottom, 2018)

9 A Balanced Stocking Rate: Efficiency & Profitability kg Lwt/ t DM Efficiency Effect of comparative stocking rate (kg of BW/t of DM) on Op. profit ($/ha) Com p arativ e Stoc king Ra te (k glw T/tDM)

10 Appropriate Stocking Rate (SR) lowest SR that maximises utilisation (CSR = kg LW/T DM; Macdonald et al. 2008) t supplement DM/cow 10 Pasture grown, t requires clarity & disciplined management Pasture cover at calving Rotation lengths Grazing intensity & residuals Use of supplements 16

11 The Future - Grazing Intensification in Context Soussana & Lemaire (2014)

12 Effect of SR on Nutrient Losses No significant effect of SR on N loss based on increased grazed pasture utilisation

13 Increased SR with Supplements Nitrate leached, kg/ha 8 Stocking rate y = 19x - 23 R² = 0.96 P < Feed Intensification Stocking rate, cows/ha Increasing stocking rate through purchased feeds increases NO3 leaching by kg/ha per extra cow

14 Increasing stocking rate is compatible with improved environmental performance based on an integrated systems approach to increase reliance on natural resources M. Huebsch et al. / Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 179 (2013) Fat plus protein Groundwater NO3-N NO3-N concentration in groundwater (mg/l) Fat plus protein production (t/ha) Stocking rate (cows/ha) Concentrate (kg/cow) N imported in fertilizer (kg/ha) Year September, 10, 2014

15 Increasing SR beyond the Farms Grass Growth Potential Based on research undertaken at Ballyhaise D. Patton1, K. Pierce2 & B. Horan1 1Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc Moorepark 2University College Dublin

16 Feed Systems ( ) HG system SR 3.14 cow/ha. 500kg concentrate/cow. Fully enclosed system. HI system SR 4.35 cows/ha. 1200kg concentrate/cow. Winter forage imported.

17 Systems Comparison Supplements required Kg Dm/day Additional Grass SR 4.5 cows/ha Grazed grass SR 3.1 cows/ha l l r r t t r r r eb Ma Ma Ma Ap Ap May May Jun Jun -Ju -Ju ug ug Sep Sep Sep Oc Oc ov F A A N Q1. How much additional feed is required to sustain a higher stocking rate? Q2. Is it profitable to do so? (Feed costs vs additional revenues)

18 Grass Production Growth rate (kg DM/ha per day) Week of year FS had no impact on annual grass production Climatic conditions similar to 10 year average Average pasture production of 13.2 tonnes ( )

19 High Stocking Rate Study Feed System1 HG HI Silage fed (kg DM/cow) Concentrate fed (kg DM/cow) MS yield (kg/cow) MS yield (kg/ha) 1,144 1,786 Grass growth (t DM/ha) Grass utilised (t DM/ha) Silage produced (kg DM/cow) Growth required (t DM/ha) Feed system1 HG = Low input pasture system, HI = High output per hectare system

20 Key herd output parameters for the evaluation of alternative grazing platform feed system1 Feed system Total Milking Platform, ha Milking Platform Owned, ha HG HI Herd size, no. cows Stocking rate, no. cows/ ha ,182 45, ,415 69, Milk sales, kg Fat plus protein sales, kg Labour units required, no.

21 The effect of base milk price on farm system profitability for alternative grazing platform feed system1 Feed System Net profit at 29 c/l milk price per farm, / farm per cow, / cow per kg milk fat plus protein, / kg per ha, / ha HG HI 29, , Net profit at 24 c/l milk price per farm, / farm per cow, / cow per kg milk fat plus protein, / kg per ha, / ha -3, , Net profit at 34 c/l milk price per farm, / farm per cow, / cow per kg milk fat plus protein, / kg per ha, / ha 62, ,550 63, ,596

22 Conclusions Match SR to long term grass growth rates of the farm for long term profitability The strategic use of supplements combined with increased further increases in SR result in increased output per ha more frequent buffer feeding throughout lactation reduced farm profits at average and below average milk prices Increases nutrient losses

23 We need to implement our systems better. Performance gap between current average and best practice grazing systems underline necessity for improved system implementation NFS Ave. Top 10% Target Herd EBI ( ) Calving Interval (days) Six week calving rate (%) Grass growth (t DM/ha) Stocking rate (LU/ha) Grass utilised (t DM/ha) Milk solids (kg/cow) Milk solids (kg/ha) , ,400 Net profit at 28 c/l ( /ha) 250 1,032 2,500 C footprint (kg CO2/kg milk)

24 Conclusions The sustainable intensification of grass-based systems is possible based on a systemic approach to improve implementation including Appropriate stocking rates and grazing practices High EBI animals Highly productive grazed ryegrass white clover pastures rigorous feed & nutrient budgeting and rapid adaptability appropriate chemical and organic fertilizer application minimum cultivation of N rich soils

25 We wish to acknowledge Irish dairy farmer funding of this research