Dairy
N e w s l e t t e r - Wynnstay
N e w s l e t t e r - Wynnstay
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This issue...<br />
2 Improved Feed Efficiency<br />
3 A clear view of where<br />
we are heading<br />
4 Walford Farm Notes<br />
Improved feed efficiency<br />
Over the last two years Alan Jones, with support from Wynnstay<br />
has improved his heard’s feed efficiency and has raised the milk<br />
from forage to 4,250 litres.<br />
5 Taking the Stress out<br />
of Rearing<br />
6 Colostrum:<br />
Making the most of<br />
home grown resources<br />
8 Cow Comfort<br />
9 Ketosis<br />
10 Going for Gold -<br />
‘Green Gold’<br />
11 An opportunity to<br />
improve your grass<br />
leys<br />
12 Whole Crop Silage<br />
13 Fertiliser Update<br />
13 Wynnmin Liquid<br />
Maxitrace<br />
14 Water Quality and<br />
Animal Performance<br />
16 Don’t take your eye<br />
off hygiene during the<br />
summer months<br />
16 Low bactoscans don’t<br />
necessarily mean<br />
clean milk<br />
17 Which buildings are<br />
best?<br />
18 Future Still Bright for<br />
Solar PV<br />
The Jones family have farmed in the Llannon<br />
area of Ceredigion for over 100 years. The<br />
present generation, Alan and his father John,<br />
now farming at Porthmawr, milk approximately<br />
180 head - 135 cows and 45 heifers producing<br />
8,500 litres on 2.1 tonnes of dairy compound.<br />
The herd calves mainly, but not exclusively<br />
from December until the end of February.<br />
Dry cows receive Dry Tec-L nuts prior to calving.<br />
Once calved the cows are milked through a<br />
24/24 herringbone parlour, receiving all their<br />
concentrates in the parlour and fed initially<br />
wholecrop silage and grass silage. Later in the<br />
season they receive maize silage and grass<br />
silage fed in bunkers<br />
On a daily basis the farm is run by Alan and<br />
John assisted by Sion Jones plus two part-time<br />
members of staff. Liaising closely with Alan is<br />
Bob Kudelski of Wynnstay who has been calling<br />
on the farm for over 28 years; Alan’s grandfather<br />
being the first Wynnstay customer in the area.<br />
The unit is predominantly grass based but 36<br />
acres of wholecrop wheat and 32 acres of maize<br />
are grown for silage to supplement autumn<br />
grazing and compliment the grass silage during<br />
the winter.<br />
The main enterprise on the farm is the dairy but<br />
around 70 animals, Limousin and Belgian Blue<br />
crosses plus 20 dairy steers are reared to be<br />
sold as forward stores each year, additionally,<br />
60 dairy heifers are raised each year to calve at<br />
22/ 24 months of age. The young stock receive<br />
Start ‘n’ Wean nuts followed by Cattle Rearer +<br />
Biosprint nuts. Initially straw is fed, followed by<br />
silage to the older calves.<br />
Over the last two years Alan, with support<br />
from Wynnstay has improved his heard’s feed<br />
efficiency and has raised the milk from forage<br />
to 4,250 litres. “Initially grazing grass much<br />
shorter than usual and keeping cows on it for<br />
longer really required a leap of faith” says Alan<br />
“but now we see the benefits in our costings,<br />
the extra work of monitoring the grazing is well<br />
worth while”<br />
4,250<br />
litres from forage<br />
The cows are usually turned out around mid-<br />
March at a stocking rate of 6.4 cows per hectare,<br />
the cows supplemented with a Wynnstay<br />
grazing compound for those yielding above the<br />
production expected from grass.<br />
The grazing area receives 30 units N per grazing<br />
cycle with any grass getting ahead of the<br />
system being cut and made into big bales.<br />
In the autumn the cows are buffer fed on<br />
wholecrop wheat prior to afternoon milking to<br />
supplement the grazing before the main silage<br />
pit is opened.<br />
The herd is housed overnight in October and<br />
are housed full-time for the winter depending<br />
on a combination of grass availability and<br />
weather.<br />
Bob Kudelski<br />
Sales Specialist<br />
M: 07771 518886<br />
2<br />
www.wynnstay.co.uk