A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra
Pasture pointers
When you put your dairy herd out on grass, you have to change your management to maintain production – Barry Potter, Agriculture Development Advisor, OMAFRA
As they enjoy a cold glass of milk, consumers may contemplate the image of cows grazing lush green pastures while the sun sets on another summer day. Turning cows out on grass can also mean cheaper feed costs for you and a way to provide exercise for your cows.
However, managing lactating cows on pasture presents its own set of challenges, particularly maintaining production and feed intake. Cows may struggle to eat enough to meet their dietary requirements. Milk production tends to drop when cows graze – often affecting fat and protein percentages.
A Penn State University study that looked at how pasture management affects dry matter intake suggests ways of meeting these challenges. Research on grazing shows Holstein cows eat the equivalent of about three per cent of their body weight per day on pasture. How effectively a cow harvests grass determines intake. Penn State researchers actually developed an equation to calculate how much a cow consumes on pasture. Intake equals grazing time, multiplied by biting rate, multiplied by bite size.
You can influence grazing time by regularly providing your cows with fresh pasture, the equivalent of pushing up feed to the bunk in confinement operations. You have no control over biting rate – the number of times per minute cows decides to clip the grass with their teeth. Grass height and density establish how much forage is available to cows each time they bite, which determines bite size. Ideal grass height is 8-12 inches (20-30 cm), which is critical to maximize bite size.
Higher yielding cows eat more than lower yielding cows. They graze more and have more bites per minute. The biggest factor influencing pasture intake is bite size, the amount of forage intake per bite.
The Penn State study grazed two groups of high-producing Holstein cows on different pasture amounts. One group was offered the forage equivalent of 55 pounds of dry matter (DM) per day, the other 90 pounds. Cows were equipped with electronic recorders to monitor eating and chewing behaviour. Researchers supplemented half the cows in each group with concentrate.
Pasture-only cows grazed for 617 minutes per day, about 10 hours, and averaged 56 bites per minute. Cows that bit more often produced more milk. Cows supplemented with concentrate grazed 1.5 hours less than the pasture-only groups.
For more information go to: http://ontario.ca/b83b
This article first appeared in the Ruminations column of The Milk Producer Magazine, April 2011.
Online course helps sprayer operators improve efficiency
Sprayers101.ca is a quick and easy way to improve training.
Challenge: Sprayer operators want a quick and easy way to find information on improving application effectiveness and efficiency.
Solution: Since 2011, hundreds of sprayer operators across Canada have taken Airblast 101, learning basic and advanced techniques for airblast sprayer operations. Now, you can access that information at your own pace in a more convenient and more cost-effective way through sprayers101.ca. Through this self-guided course, sprayer operators learn how to save time, save money and improve efficacy, often while reducing pesticide use.
Sprayers101.ca also provides you with access to factsheets, presentations, instructional videos, and articles that you can’t get through in-person courses. Plans are in place to expand the site to include information for field sprayer operators.
Launched in January 2014, sprayers101.ca is a collaborative effort between the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and Croplife Canada.
Impact:
• Sprayers101.ca has received over 4,000 website hits.
• Industrial and academic institutions recommended the site because it contains information on current best practices that can’t be found anywhere else.
Sprayers101.ca was nominated for the international 2014 Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences Award.
Coming events:
April 17 deadline: For submission of Employer Application Forms for the 2015 Rural Summer Jobs Service. For more information on the Rural Summer Jobs Service call: 1-877-424-1300 or email rsjs.omafra@ontario.ca
