Cold weather shows need for feed buffer

Thin cows coming into calving and low pasture covers are causing many farmers to reconsider just how much feed they need to carry into winter. Ian Williams, a forage specialist for Pioneer, said the challenging conditions Waikato farmers had faced in the last few seasons, and uncertain economic times, reinforced the need to carry a feed buffer stored on-farm reports the Waikato Times."The spell of cold frosty weather is a real worry," Mr Williams said. "Covers are very low and there are quite a few skinny cows around."He said cashflows were very tight and since Fonterra's $4.55 payout announcement the sentiment had gone from being ambivalent to pretty negative. Because of the cold, Mr Williams said, nitrogen responses were likely to be very small and supplementary feed was the most economical way of increasing the rotation length. Extra maize silage bought in the autumn needed to be fed out now to extend the rotation length and to try to build an adequate pasture cover. "For those farmers who don't have enough feed, a number of contract growers and maize contractors who couldn't sell their maize silage in the autumn ensiled it themselves." Mr Williams said the feed was available for sale now and was an option for increasing cow condition and building pasture cover levels. However, he warned that farmers wanting to procure maize would have to be quick as stocks were beginning to disappear as dairy farmers faced a long, cold winter. Mr Williams said maize silage was an ideal option because it could be grown on the farm or on a run-off. It could also be stacked at a cost-effective price.