Does your paddock size impact your herd performance?
The answer is yes - pasture allocation has an impact on our first lactation animals. As part of Grass10 Grazing Infrastructure Month, Caitlin Looney, Teagasc Moorepark, tells us more.
The competition within the herd increases as cows tend to be underfed when pasture allocation is at 12 hours in the mid-season. This greater competition impacts first lactation animals the most and leads to reduced milk performance in these animals. When farms move to a 36-hour allocation from a 12-hour allocation there are two larger feeds and one tight grazing. This has shown improved milk performance and body condition score in first lactation animals.
Farm specific
For a typical 100 cow herd, optimal paddock size should be 2ha (approx. 5 acres). This is allocating 18 kg grass allocated per cow for a 36-hour allocation.
Pasture allocation study
A previous Teagasc Moorepark study on pasture allocation frequency looked at 135 commercial dairy farms across the country. The study found on farms with less than 250 cows, 19% of paddocks were suitable for 12-hour grazing. On farms with over 250 cows this increased to 46% of paddocks were suitable for 12-hour grazing allocations. Resulting in first lactation animals milk performance being negatively affected on larger farms. If you are increasing herd size on your farm it is important to adjust paddock size and pasture allocation to ensure first lactation animals are not being affected. This can be as simple as removing some electric fences on the farm.
Looking at your farms paddock size
This month Grass10 are encouraging farms to look at their paddock size and identify how many paddocks are suitable for 36-hour grazing? 36- hour grazing is the target for the mid-season. 12-hour grazing should only be implemented, with a strip wire in challenging conditions such as spring and autumn. Strip wires should also be used if supplementation is introduced due to a soil moisture deficit as it maximises utilisation of pasture.
Paul Maher, Teagasc Moorepark, discusses the impact of paddock size in the video below.