Nitrates

With a lot of extra meal being fed this year, farmers should be aware of the implications in terms of nitrates. Firstly, for every 1t of meal brought on to the farm, the Department of Agriculture class this as 5kg of phosphorus imported to the farm.

The first 300kg of concentrate per dairy cow is not counted. So if someone feeds 100t of meal in the year and carries 100 cows, the first 30t is excluded, meaning the phosphorus is counted in the remaining 70t at a rate of 5kg per tonne.

Therefore, a total of 350kg of phosphorus will come off the fertiliser phosphorus allowance for next year.

Phosphorus allowance is very low on farms with good soil fertility, on farms that feed a lot of meal and on farms that don’t have soil samples taken and so are presumed to be at index three for P.

Secondly, a couple of farmers have been asking about the crude protein content of meal and what happens if they deviate from what crude protein level they declared they would feed in meal earlier this spring.

Essentially, if in the middle band for nitrates, the excretion rate per cow of 92kg assumes that the cow is fed 16% crude protein meal on average over the year.

If the actual crude protein is lower, farmers could declare this and opt into a lower excretion rate band of 90kg if less than or equal to 15% and greater than 14% protein, 89kg if less than or equal to 14% and greater than 13% protein or 87kg if less than or equal to 13% crude protein.

As I understand it, if a farmer declared that they would feed on average 13% crude protein, but ends up feeding an average of 14% there will be no repercussions provided they don’t exceed the maximum organic nitrogen stocking rate of 170kg, 220kg or 250kg depending on their derogation status. BISS penalties apply if this is exceeded.

Maize

A lot of dairy farmers are growing maize for the first time this year. It got off to a shaky enough start, but any crops that were sown under cover seem to be performing well. Crops sown without cover are a little lighter and patchy.

It will be interesting to see if the cost of the film is returned in higher yields at harvest time.

The next week or so will be the last opportunity to do any tractor work in maize such as fertiliser top-up or spray, so walk any crops and seek advice if there are any issues. For those looking for high quality fodder, winter barley crops are beginning to ripen and the harvest will start in the next few weeks. This is a crop that performs well in wholecrop silage and could be cheaper to buy than maize.

Calf housing

With school and college over for the summer there will be extra help around for key summer jobs such as power washing. Priority is calf housing, as the longer these buildings are cleaned and disinfected the less likelihood there is of carrying over infection from one season to the next.

Remove all old bedding and power wash before letting the shed dry out. Then apply good quality disinfectant at the correct rate and let that dry before putting anything else back in the shed.