Think ahead and act early on winter feeding

Winter diets are being fed. However it can still take some cows time to adapt to them, so it is important to pay close attention to their performance as this should give a good indication if ration changes are required.

The NWF laboratory analyses over 8,500 forage samples each year providing instant results to support ration planning.

Results indicate that silages this season are looking good. For first cut grass silages in central England average dry matter is 32.4 per cent, Metabolisable Energy of 10.8 MJ/kg DM and crude protein of 14.6 per cent, which should deliver good intake and milk yield potential.

Averages can be misleading and while energy is 10.8 ME, the maximum analysed is 12.1 ME which initially sounds good, however very digestible silage can be difficult to feed and often runs through the cow quickly, requiring structural fibre to offer a ‘matt’ on the top of the rumen.

Similarly an average dry matter of 32.4 per cent still contains a minimum dry matter of 14 per cent, where again a wetter grass silage can offer significant rumen health issues and impact feed efficiency. To maximise winter performance key limiting factors need to be identified and a strategy employed to either fix or mitigate their effects.

As an example for silages that are generally dryer this season, the question arises on whether you should add water. A dry matter above 55 per cent will reduce intakes and performance therefore any silages higher than 47 per cent DM would benefit from the addition of water at a rate of 3 litres/head/day to the TMR to support bringing the dry matter back down below 55 per cent which in turn will help increase performance

Forage stocks are another common issue this winter and with silages being more digestible than a typical season, this will only increase their intake and therefore reduce how long they will last.

Straw is the ‘go to’ forage to space out silages. This will help rumen health. However keep an eye on butterfat increases. Straw will reduce energy density so milk proteins may reduce and that could impact on bulling activity.

Adding 3kg/head/day of straw will require over 200g/head/day of rumen protected fat such as Evolution to lift energy levels back up to where they would have been. If milk proteins are required then choose cereals such as wheat, barley or maize to re-gain energy.

To get the best out of winter diets ensure herd performance is monitored and compared against targets set.

Think ahead and predict any responses to changes made to ensure they deliver the desired result.

Adam Clay, NWF Head of Technical