Forage crops allow successful out-wintering of heifers

Eighty ‘overflow’ heifers have grown well on forage rape, stubble turnips and catch crop ryegrass mixtures this winter, and for less cost than their contemporaries kept indoors.

The dairy unit at Sludge Hall Farm at Cold Newton in Leicestershire has been transformed over the past five years.

John Hill’s grandfather emigrated from New Zealand to England, buying the 404ha (1,000 acre) mixed farm. Until 2010, cousins John and Andrew were running arable enterprises and milking 120 cows themselves, three times a day in an outdated parlour, bursting at the seams.

John Hill and his heifers

The decision was made to increase cow numbers substantially and install a 44-point rotary parlour. Seven full time and two part time workers now look after and milk 650 cows, three times a day. The young herd is yielding 10,500 litres per cow, and the milk is sold to Long Clawson Dairy to make into cheese.

The animals are housed all-year-round, and fed a TMR-based on one third grass, one third maize and one third wholecrop silages.

The cows were originally pedigree Holsteins, but such rapid expansion has led to half the herd being recently bought in. The cows are AI’d with sexed semen for the first two services, and then to a Belgian Blue bull. German-bred Holstein bulls are used to serve the bulling heifers.

Calves stay indoors after they are born, but go out to graze onto second cut silage aftermath at the end of May. In the autumn, 200 were housed on John’s father-in-law’s farm. But the rising herd numbers left 80 heifers with no winter home.

“This was the first year we have run out of winter housing and had to try something different,” says John Hill.

“We decided to drill 21 hectares after wholecrop wheat in the first two weeks of August, with two brassica mixtures from Oliver Seeds. Muck had been spread and a small amount of 20:10:10 fertiliser was applied before sowing.

The next forage feed for the bulling heifers

Local farmers said it would never work on our clay soil – but the two mixes have done a brilliant job of feeding the heifers. The ground has stayed pretty firm, despite having the wettest December on record.”

The fields were split into two and drilled half with Autumn Feed at 5kg/ha (2kg/acre), which has 50% Winfred semi-dwarf rape – a cross between stubble turnip and kale, and two stubble turnip varieties in it. This was fed from November to the end of the year.

The other half was sown with Raptor at 24kg/ha (10kg/acre). This has 10% Winfred and 90% Tornado ryegrass mixture, containing a persistent, multi-cut westerwold and two Italian ryegrasses. This was offered to the heifers throughout January.

The crops have been strip grazed, behind an electric fence, which has been moved every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A back fence and a water trough have been moved forward once a week. Bales of grass silage that were placed in the field after drilling, are unwrapped and put into ring feeders to add fibre to the animals’ diet.

“In the Autumn Feed we put four silage bales in each break, but I think they could do with a bit more than that,” admits Mr. Hill. “Also we need to add eight layers of plastic wrap rather than the usual six, to stop the pheasants pecking through it and making a mess.”

Bulling heifers enjoying Raptor Catch Crop

The heifers adapted to the new feed quickly. “There was a fairly smooth transition; they didn’t gorge themselves on it,” says Mr. Hill. “But it did take a few days for them to learn how to eat the turnips!”

The heifers now weigh an average of 370kg and four young bulls have been introduced to serve them.

“I am really pleased with how this system has worked, and will definitely be drilling more brassica catch crops this summer. There is also room to increase the stocking rate slightly – probably up to 100 heifers.

“This has been a much cheaper way to grow the heifers, at around 73p/head/day compared to 83p/head/day for the cake and straw the 200 housed animals have had.

“They also look fitter. Two naughty ones, that wouldn’t stay behind the wire were taken inside and have come back out now. They look shorter and plumper and have not grown the frame of the outdoor heifers.”

Rod Bonshor of Oliver Seeds, who advised Mr. Hill on the forage mixes, is not surprised at how well the heifers have grown.

“The energy content of leafy and root brassicas is typically higher than that in other forages and similar to that in concentrate feeds,” says Mr. Bonshor.

“They are high in readily digestible carbohydrate content and the leafy ones have a high crude protein content of around 19%. But they are low in fibre and the animals must have access to silage, straw or hay at the same time.

“They are also easy to grow Winfred has high seedling vigour which gives more reliable establishment that kale, and it is ready for grazing within six to ten weeks from planting,” says Mr. Bonshor. “High leaf to stem ratio and good disease resistance make it very palatable, and if back fenced it can regrow for a second feed.”

This article first appeared in BRITISH DAIRYING February 2016