Farming Nick Green

Managing milk production

AS with everything in farming, milk production goes in cycles. The cow gives birth, feeds her calf for a time, becomes pregnant again, continues to be milked until two months before she is due to give birth, has an eight week holiday, has a calf and the cycle starts again. This might sound quite artificial and draconian but it is exactly the same as it happens in nature.

If nature were left to control everything, the cow would normally give birth in late winter, she would suckle her calf when feed is most plentiful in spring and early summer, the bull would make the cow pregnant sometime in the spring and a couple of months before she was due to give birth her calf would wean itself and she would have a break.

That’s all well and good if the cows’ milk is destined for her calf. What doesn’t work as well is if the milk is destined for human consumption. Milk is needed all year. Using the cow’s natural cycle, the farmer decides what approach to take to their milk production.

It might be to calve their cows in late winter and spring and utilise the spring and summer grass growth by grazing their cows. Or, they might calve their cows in the autumn and rely on

With NICK GREEN

grass conserved as silage for their cows’ winter feed. Or, if their milk buyer wants a level supply of milk every month, they calve their cows all year round.

The approach to milk production depends on its end use. For liquid consumption it needs to be “white water”. At the other end of the spectrum, cheese makers want milk as rich as possible. The higher the butterfat and protein levels the better.

All this aside, and whatever system the farmer follows, most cows will be disappearing from the fields into winter quarters soon. Cows enjoy being outside but just like us, when it’s cold and wet there’s nothing like a warm house, comfortable bed and plenty of food to help the winter fly by.

Nick Green is Farms Director for Alvis Bros Ltd based at Lye Cross Farm. He is responsible for the farming and estate business and is passionate about British food and farming. As well as the business, he is involved with a number of local and national farming charities.

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l Ready mixed for 2 stroke engines l Burns cleaner than ordinary fuel l Virtually free from sulphur, benzene and solvents making it less harmful than regular petrol, therefore breathing much cleaner air when working with power tools l Better for engines, longer storage staying fresh for years therefore easier starting l Reduced toxic emissions so better for the environment

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