Are your cows meeting their energy requirements?

With cows edging towards peak milk production, farmers need to ensure the herd is meeting its energy requirements.

Despite the subpar grazing conditions we are still working with, it is important that cows are getting adequate amounts of dry matter (DM).

Grass intake has been low or non-existent in a lot of diets, depending on the situation, meaning cows are still being fed silage.

That would be fine, however as we pass the five-month mark of winter housing, supplies of high quality silage may be starting to run low on a lot of farms.

That means a lot of cows may be on poorer quality silage cut later in the year and intended for dry stock, which will limit milk production and affect body condition ahead of the breeding season.

Grass

Getting cows to grass needs to be a focus on farms at this stage, even if this is only for short periods of time.

The energy supply within high quality spring grass cannot be substituted; cows will thrive on it, with milk production rocketing.

At this stage, every trick in the book needs to used to get cows out, using on/off grazing, spur roadways, multiple access points.

By getting cows out, you can increase the energy density of the cows’ diet, all while reducing production costs, which will make a huge difference on cash flow.

Energy

When cows are on/off grazing, a suitable dairy ration must be fed at the correct level to bridge any nutritional gaps.

The volume of concentrates fed will be determined by assessing the level of grass DM intake, silage DM intake, as well as the production level of the animal.

Farmers also need to keep an eye on milk composition, ensuring they are feeding the correct crude protein % nut.

Dairy cows require six UFL (net energy value) to maintain themselves and approximately 0.47 UFL/kg of milk.

Which means a cow producing 28L will need 13 UFLs for the milk and six UFLs for herself – which equals 19 UFLs.

It is vital that you know the energy requirements of your herd and that they are being met.

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