Making the most of forage improves herd margins by over £111.00 per cow

The Challenge & Current Conditions

Last summer the challenge set to Matt Jenkin and Louise Woolacott from ForFarmers, was to increase both herd margin and milk from forage.

Maize silage is a key part of the diet and is fed all year round.  On average, 115 acres are grown for the farm on both owned and rented ground. 

The farm is not in the most favourable maize growing area being five miles from Land’s End but manage to get respectable yields at 15-16tFW/acre and importantly need a high quality feed to help produce the high quality milk to meet their contract. 

James looks for early maturing varieties, as he does not want a late maturing crop.  Then it is all about forage quality and he targets to produce a crop at around 35% dry matter and 35% starch.

The system is partial TMR with the outside feed based on M+16 litres and topped up with feed in the parlour.  Last year milk from forage was 2560 litres per cow and the aim was to improve this. 

Results

James says the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  “Milk from forage has gone up by 460 litres per cow while margin over purchased feed is up by £111 per cow.”

“Better forage efficiency has meant we have been able to reduce the concentrate feed rate from 0.33kg/l to 0.31kg/l.

“Silage has remained cool during feed out, meaning less waste.  We only feed our dry cows every other day, as the mix has remained cool all the time.

For further information on forage, please contact your local ForFarmers Forage Specialist or call us on: 0330 678 1200