Based on a 147-hectare platform in Hayscastle, near Haverfordwest, Gethin currently runs 330 Jersey crossbred cows using a spring-block-calving system. He’s in his second year of a joint-venture farming arrangement. The herd is averaging 5,200 litres, at 4.90% butterfat and 3.89% protein, with a somatic cell count of 100,000 cells/ml.
To achieve a tight 12-week calving block from early February, serving starts on May 10. Gethin AIs for the first five weeks, using a mix of conventional Friesian and Jersey semen. After that, any cows that are not in calf run with the unit’s stock bulls.
Cows are turned out to graze as soon as they calve, on a 40-day rotation, with Gethin aiming for the herd to graze the whole grazing platform between the start of calving and April 1.
He aims to graze grass covers at around 3,000kg DM/hectare and will move cows when they’re down to around 1,600kg. “This may seem high to some producers, but we find that leaving behind a bit more grass in a paddock helps with grass regrowth and quality.”
When cows were turned out in 2020, Gethin began supplementing intakes with 4kg of GrazeMate – a low, 12% protein concentrate from ForFarmers, which contains Levucell and minerals, and has been specifically designed to support spring calving and grazing herds. Early in the grazing season, there is, typically, plenty of protein in the grass. So feeding a low-protein concentrate helps balance the ration and ensures that milk ureas don’t get too high. “I used a similar product a few years ago and found it worked well in a spring grazing system, so I was keen to give the ForFarmers product a try,” adds Gethin.