Marcus runs an autumn block calving herd and milks 250 three-way cross Holstein, Norwegian Red, Fleckvieh cows in partnership with father and wife. The total size of the family farm is 520 acres, with 160 acres set aside for grazing during the spring and summer.
“We grow grass very well, so the aim is to utilise as much grass in our system as possible,” explains Marcus. “Cows will be turned out and rotationally grazed as early as mid-January and we also operate a multicut approach to silaging; kicking off our silaging season on 20th April.
“We often suffer from a lack of grass growth in the early part of the season due to hot weather, but the aim is to take grass cuts every 35 days. It is really important that the grass is clamped within 24 hours of cutting and this will happen no matter what the conditions.”
Marucs works with ForFarmers Forage Specialist, Michelle Cross, to assess grass ley performance and they are currently reviewing the use of Ryegrass Plus Grasses in some of the farm’s leys to help cope with the stress of dry conditions. Together with ForFarmers account manager, Elliw Griffiths, Michelle regularly analyses the farm’s silage and Elliw then uses this data to tweak the cow’s diet to ensure nutritional consistency in the base ration.
“Timely fertiliser application also helps to stimulate grass regrowth and quality too. During silage harvests we have a fertiliser spinner out in the field, chasing our contractor’s forage harvester out of harvested leys and spreading fertiliser as soon as possible.”