Careful pasture selection and ongoing maintenance are some of the most important things you can do for your cows.
Because the more good quality grass they eat, the better quality and quantity of milk they will produce.
In Australia, about two-thirds of a cow’s diet comes from forage grass and silage.
That’s a lot of grass.
But how to select the right type of pasture for your cows?
Have a few pasture species in mind?
Hi, I’m Ollie from Pasture.io, let’s tackle these questions around pasture selection for dairy cows.
Here are a few parameters you can consider when selecting a pasture variety:
● Yield potential, how much grass can you grow under optimal conditions
● Grass palatability, will your animals take to it easily?
● How rapidly will it germinate and establish
● How well it can compete with weeds and pests and fight diseases
● Can it associate with other pasture species and adapt to local soils and climatic conditions.
With those points in mind, here are three popular pasture species for you to consider:
Number one.
Ryegrass.
Ryegrass has at least four varieties, but we won’t go into that now.
I’ve put a link to the ryegrass guide in the video description you can refer to if you need more information on ryegrass.
Ryegrass is one of the most popular pasture species for dairy farms that enjoy cool temperate weather.
It is highly productive.
As ryegrass can yield up to 12 tonne of DM per hectare, under the right conditions and when you add irrigation, this yield can be as high as 20 tonnes to the hectare.
It is nutritious.
As ryegrass generally contains between 11 and 12 megajoules of ME per Kg of DM.
Cows also love it because it tastes great and is easily digestible.
So all said and done, if your farm soil and weather profile can support ryegrass, then you might want to consider growing it.
Next, let’s move to number two.
Lucerne.
Lucerne isn’t called the Queen of Forage for nothing!
Lucerne is an excellent forage for dairy cattle as it packs a powerful punch of both nutrients and easily digestible feed that is cost-effective as well.
It is a high yielding legume with nice, deep roots that naturally fix the nitrogen levels in the soil.
It’s also quite affordable, and Lucerne swards can last for 4 to 5 years if managed well.
It has been known to help increase milk supply and improve reproduction in high-yielding dairy cows.
Lucerne is known for its highly digestible protein content.
And your dairy cows love it because Lucerne can be easily digested.
For more information on Lucerne, click the link I’ve put in the description.
Last but not least, we have at number three.
You could say, the new kid on the block.
Kikuyu
Kikuyu has been naturalized along most of the east coast of Australia and is now the most dominant summer pasture on coastal dairy farms.
It is also common to see across the world and is favourable in places such as South Africa and parts of Latin America.
Kikuyu is a good alternative to ryegrass, especially in sandy and warm regions.
But compared to the protein and calcium content of ryegrass, Kikuyu grass contains less protein and calcium at varying leaf stages.
So farmers prefer to use Kikuyu as forage for dry cows or pregnant cows.
That brings us to the end of this video. And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. See you soon, in another video.
Until we meet again, Happy growing profitable pastures
Blog article: [ Ссылка ]
Ryegrass guide: [ Ссылка ]
Lucerne guide: [ Ссылка ]
Website: [ Ссылка ]
