Increasing the amount of grass utilised on farms by grazing more grass in the shoulders of the year was the focus on the grazing management stand at the Moorepark open day. This led nicely into the infrastructure section where roadways and water systems were looked at.
Grazing infrastructure will need to be changed and upgraded on a lot of farms that have increased herd sizes over the last number of years.
Roadways and their construction was a big focus, with a number of examples on display.
The message was clear: the objective is to have a roadway with a smooth surface, adequate crossfall and raised above the grazing area with no sweeping bend. This leads to better cow flow, increased walking speeds and less lameness.
The width of the roadway is another area that is coming under pressure with increasing cow numbers. The target and general rule of thumb is for a roadway to be 4m wide for 100 cows and 5m wide for 200 cows.
New farm roadways need to be constructed in good weather conditions and dry soil conditions.
The cost of construction put on a roadway was said to be between €18/m and €30/m, depending on the availability of materials, depth and construction method.
Water systems were also looked at on the day as growing cow numbers have left a lot of farms with poor water supply in recent years.
Poor water supply can hit cow yield as over 80% of milk is water. There are three main areas to access in your water system to achieve good flow rates on the farm:
The pipe size: is the main pipe size of the water system big enough to have good flow rates for the number of stock on your farm?Are the ballcocks restricting flow? The advice was to use full flow-type ballcocks as flow rates are much quicker with 9mm to 12mm jets compared with 3mm jets on the high-pressure ballcocks.Are water troughs big enough? The target is to leave space for at least 5% to 10% of the herd to drink at once.Location of water troughs was also discussed in relation to splitting paddocks in the spring and autumn, with the emphasis on placing water troughs in a central position in fields.
Avoid positioning them at gaps to help improve cow flow and keep roadways cleaner.
Increasing the amount of grass utilised on farms by grazing more grass in the shoulders of the year was the focus on the grazing management stand at the Moorepark open day. This led nicely into the infrastructure section where roadways and water systems were looked at.
Grazing infrastructure will need to be changed and upgraded on a lot of farms that have increased herd sizes over the last number of years.
Roadways and their construction was a big focus, with a number of examples on display.
The message was clear: the objective is to have a roadway with a smooth surface, adequate crossfall and raised above the grazing area with no sweeping bend. This leads to better cow flow, increased walking speeds and less lameness.
The width of the roadway is another area that is coming under pressure with increasing cow numbers. The target and general rule of thumb is for a roadway to be 4m wide for 100 cows and 5m wide for 200 cows.
New farm roadways need to be constructed in good weather conditions and dry soil conditions.
The cost of construction put on a roadway was said to be between €18/m and €30/m, depending on the availability of materials, depth and construction method.
Water systems were also looked at on the day as growing cow numbers have left a lot of farms with poor water supply in recent years.
Poor water supply can hit cow yield as over 80% of milk is water. There are three main areas to access in your water system to achieve good flow rates on the farm:
The pipe size: is the main pipe size of the water system big enough to have good flow rates for the number of stock on your farm?Are the ballcocks restricting flow? The advice was to use full flow-type ballcocks as flow rates are much quicker with 9mm to 12mm jets compared with 3mm jets on the high-pressure ballcocks.Are water troughs big enough? The target is to leave space for at least 5% to 10% of the herd to drink at once.Location of water troughs was also discussed in relation to splitting paddocks in the spring and autumn, with the emphasis on placing water troughs in a central position in fields.
Avoid positioning them at gaps to help improve cow flow and keep roadways cleaner.
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