Macalister Demonstration Farm

Dairy Research Farm demonstrating best management practice

 

Macalister Demonstration Farm

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MDF Update 478

August 30, 2018 by MDF

  • MDF Fortnightly Update 533
  • MDF Fortnightly Update 532
  • MDF Fortnightly Update 531
  • MDF Fortnightly Update 530 
  • MDF Fortnightly Update 529

Macalister Demonstration Farm Update 478

(Week ending 31st August, 2018)

More than half of the herd has now calved so the season is getting into full swing.  The calculated pasture consumption is 32 Kg DM/ha/ day, which is a jump up on the last period’s 23
kg DM/ha/ day. The grass is excellent quality, very leafy, and no sign of rising seed heads. Some paddocks have excellent soil moisture, some quite dry. Irrigation has just started for the season.
The next break to be grazed is recently re-sown annual ryegrass. It has a huge quantity of 2,800 kg DM/ha a d has been rested 52 days, with 2.8 leaves regrown. That is a leaf appearance rate of 19 days which is typical for late August. The grass in this paddock is enjoying the release of nutrient from organic matter when the soil was stirred up at sowing.
In contrast, the paddock after that to be grazed is older perennial ryegrass. It has an available quantity of 1,000 kg DM per hectare, 2.5 leaves, 48 days rested. The poorly grown patches in this paddock are suffering from being grazed short (3 cm height) at the previous grazing. Whilst grazing residue is commonly measured in Kg DM/ha, measuring the quantity of residue is inaccurate, especially using a plate meter, because it picks up bumps and holes in the ground, making the figure meaningless. Residue is best assessed as the “plant’s height” because plant height governs its ability to re-grow fast. We should be aiming for 6 cm residue between the clumps to maximise growth.

MDF Fortnightly Update 478

Filed Under: Fortnightly Updates

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About the MDF

The Macalister Demonstration Farm, formerly the Macalister Research Farm, is a farmer-owned co-operative established on April 13th 1960. A collaboration between dairy farmers of the MID and the Department of Agriculture at Maffra resulted in the … Read More

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