Our new identity was launched at the end of August and our new name, Tirlán, was warmly welcomed and is being embedded across our organisation including our

DECEMBER MILK QUALITY TIPS

By Fionnuala Malone

The cold weather has reminded everyone of some of the essentials for dairying through the winter period. Foremost is always to be safe on farm and to keep your premises and milking facilities weatherproof. The first cold snap we have seen certainly bought challenges with freezing pipes, detergent washers and icy yards. So it is a good idea to revisit how winter proof your facilities are. Always ensure that you and all your family are safe working through a cold spell by prioritising yard safety. Some reminders:

• Ensure safe access for milk collection and deliveries on farm – keep roadways clear and salt all areas that drivers have to walk on.

• Salt yards and areas you will be walking to make sure no one skids and falls on ice.

• Close and fully seal dairy doors. Roller doors and tightly sealing doors are key as is good insulation throughout on pipe work.

• Infra-red lamps and heaters over milking and wash lines and wash lines will help keep these from freezing. • Check detergent bowls to make sure they are not freezing up. • Check wash motors for burn out – insulate your washer mechanisms where possible. • Make sure your yard is fully lit with good lighting. Charge head torches and get some extra batteries for torches for using in the dark cold mornings. • Fully drain your machine over-night – you can put a saltwater rinse through the lines as the final rinse – and then fully drain the lines.

• Drain clusters, bulk tanks and all pipe work. Leaving clusters hanging down overnight helps drain the last water. • If freezing weather is severe, using heaters on in the dairy helps to avoid water pipes freezing. • Store all your essential farm implements in a shed and make them easy to find and use – e.g. shovels, spring, buckets etc.

• Ensure tractors and quads are full of diesel and petrol at night-time and are facing the direction you need then for morning. • Check your generator is working – before you need it. • Swap over detergent barrels if your detergent is running low. Store these off the floor, and inside out of the freezing weather. • Avoid chlorate / perchlorate issues by ensuring that only fresh chlorine free detergents are used, and that your teat disinfectant does not contain chloride or chlorine dioxide.

See the below videos for more information on winter milking and deep cleaning and servicing the machine at shut down: The importance of detergents and good routines for winter milking - bit.ly/3PlKMng Time to start thinking about getting your milking machine serviced - bit.ly/3HxvLwU

Have you assessed your forage stocks recently?

Teagasc’s Dairy Fodder Survey

Teagasc’s Dairy Fodder Survey conducted in September 2022 indicated that fodder supplies were a concern in the southeast region for 15-20% of farms. This shortfall may have risen since. Despite grass being plentiful on most farms due to favourable growing conditions in the back-end, grazing conditions were challenging, resulting in herds being housed earlier. Additionally, pits have been open for the past 6 weeks with some running through silage quicker than anticipated. With herds being dried off, now is the time to re-assess your fodder budget to see where you stand.

Fodder tight on farm?

If fodder is tight or in deficit it is crucial to act now to stretch this fodder rather than anticipate a good spring. Plan to stretch silage during the dry period when the demand is lower through straw and/or concentrate supplementation. Reserve good quality silage for milking cows of at least 72% DMD to reduce the risk of excessive negative energy balance and BCS loss to optimise milk & fertility performance next lactation

Guidelines to restricting silage:

• Firstly, know the quality of your silage. Knowing the dry matter of your silage will allow correct silage allocations, whether it is feeding with a wagon or grab. • Restricting daily silage allowances is important if using concentrates/straights to stretch fodder supplies and to avoid over conditioned dry cows. • 3 kg concentrate feeding rate can reduce daily silage feeding by 20-25% in a dairy herd if silage is restricted. • Provide Straw along the feeding barrier to help satisfy cows . • Every kg of concentrate fed can replace 4-6 kg of silage (fresh weight), depending on silage dry matter. • A kilogram of straw saves about 4-6 kg of silage (fresh weight) depending on the silage dry matter. • Adequate feeding space must be available. • Do not forget to feed minerals and ensure protein is sufficient in the diets. Straw and cereals have lower levels of minerals and protein than grass silage. Therefore, a higher feeding rate of dry cow minerals and an addition of a protein source may be needed.

For example, if you save 10 kg of silage per head for a month you will save 300 kg of silage. At the end of the winter, this is a valuable asset to have and gives flexibility when it comes to grazing in spring. Even if you have enough feed for the winter, it’s important to regularly re-assess what you have because no one knows what weather conditions will be like in the spring.

Measure, calculate, plan and start now.

If you require any further support, do not hesitate to contact your local Tirlán FarmLife representative.