Dairy chit chat II

visatorro wrote: »

Very sorry Waffletraktor can you put that in simple terms for me please?!

I'm sorry, i'm normally as awful at trying to get something across .
There is a school of thought fairly well accepted when turning around ground from graminaea crops (grass/cereal crops etc) quickly there is a build up of toxic organic acids due to an anaerobic conditions formed that need a big rain event or cultivation to mix up the soil and accelerate decomposition to clear the acids faster. Equivalent to chopping straw or say burning off a grass stuble, to turn the field around and replant quickly if you dont cultivate and mix up the soil/residue or enough rain to was it through the soil you can get a short term build up of acids/organic compounds that affect growth of new crops. So say burning off a thickish sward-DD grass seed- and then it turns dry for a few weeks.
Would be called the two simons theory.
Also sometimes glyphosate can hang around in the soil and do damage if used to dessicate a crop in a low-til scenario.. Skip to 'white section' 1/3 way down if you've time. Going towards mechanical desication of seedbeds here with discs and a heavy set of rolls.
http://www.notill.org/sites/default/files/le_8-3_web.pdf

Did anyone do the taste test of pasture milk vs tmr & maize silage?

What was notable was that the samples were unhomogenised - they said people wouldn't have been able to tell the difference otherwise!

Waffletraktor wrote: »

I'm sorry, i'm normally as awful at trying to get something across .
There is a school of thought fairly well accepted when turning around ground from graminaea crops (grass/cereal crops etc) quickly there is a build up of toxic organic acids due to an anaerobic conditions formed that need a big rain event or cultivation to mix up the soil and accelerate decomposition to clear the acids faster. Equivalent to chopping straw or say burning off a grass stuble, to turn the field around and replant quickly if you dont cultivate and mix up the soil/residue or enough rain to was it through the soil you can get a short term build up of acids/organic compounds that affect growth of new crops. So say burning off a thickish sward-DD grass seed- and then it turns dry for a few weeks.
Would be called the two simons theory.
Also sometimes glyphosate can hang around in the soil and do damage if used to dessicate a crop in a low-til scenario.. Skip to 'white section' 1/3 way down if you've time. Going towards mechanical desication of seedbeds here with discs and a heavy set of rolls.
http://www.notill.org/sites/default/files/le_8-3_web.pdf

Thanks for that, it actually makes sense now!

However - the less vigorous plot (at least the one I noticed) was about second from the end.. which I am pretty sure was the ploughed set of plots? .. I remember wondering whether less fertile soil might have been turned up but he said that both the plots were ploughed.

kowtow wrote: »

The Teagasc guy said they had all noticed the reseed without roundup was more vigorous and nobody understood why! They thought it might just be that bit of the field...

The Teagasc lad leading our group through the demo said that plot looked better because the sward was more dense as old weed grasses weren't killed off and came back up with new seedlings. What struck me was the amount of docks in the plot with no pre/post spray treatment, especially in Moorepark where there wouldn't have hardly been any docks before reseeding. Just shows how they can lay dormant in the soil and germinate when the soil is disturbed. Either that or they threw in some dock seed at reseeding to make the trial look more convincing!

A message one of our speakers had today was that we should aim to put away a cash reserve of 10cent a litre this year to have as a rainy day fund. But I think a big ask when there is work to be done this year that got put on the long finger due to last years milk price. Hopefully next year Ill manage it if price stays up!

Wildsurfer wrote: »

kowtow wrote: »

The Teagasc guy said they had all noticed the reseed without roundup was more vigorous and nobody understood why! They thought it might just be that bit of the field...

The Teagasc lad leading our group through the demo said that plot looked better because the sward was more dense as old weed grasses weren't killed off and came back up with new seedlings. What struck me was the amount of docks in the plot with no pre/post spray treatment, especially in Moorepark where there wouldn't have hardly been any docks before reseeding. Just shows how they can lay dormant in the soil and germinate when the soil is disturbed. Either that or they threw in some dock seed at reseeding to make the trial look more convincing!

Or it comes in the grass seed! I often had that Taugh myself

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Groundswell is for looking at the sharp edge of growing stuff(crops/grass/herb leys) and what we need to learn to start farming for tommorow, you'll be doing it in 10 years once Yosemitesam has done the dog work learning it now.
(Not meant to inflamatory, it's looking at actual more sustainable farming systems for tomorow not just fancy irish grass marketing about sustainable oil and chemicaly fed monopastures)

That sums it up better than I could

Timmaay wrote: »

Sums it up for me also, would never go back to split calving. Still looking at spring time labour, but have a few potential options. Having to use labour in the autumn to help calf down a small number of cows would be a complete waste because you'd largely need to be around the whole time yourself anyways, and the 2nd person would nearly be a hindrance, split calving just complete goes against the keep it simple mentality and creates more work that would need the likes of a 15c+ bonus to ever justify at the scale I'd be looking at.

Most farms wouldnt need a second labour unit for the autumn calvers, it can be as easy or as hard as you make it.

leg wax wrote: »

just had the morning off milking, oldest milked on his own, sitting here and out of sorts as my day has changed

Pity about ya

The whole milk powder conundrum.

https://keithwoodford.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/1709/amp/

kowtow wrote: »

Stupid question I am sure, but when we refer to additional profit per cow as a result of a reduced calving interval, where - exactly - is that profit coming from? Are assumptions being made about drying off dates and lost milk as if a herd was already in a tight spring calving pattern, or is it about matching future calving dates to peak grass production? ... I think what I am trying to say is would the additional profit or loss from fertility be the same if a herd was already a deliberately all year round calving herd?

Dont be throwing curveball questions like that around, I'd reckon their still harking back to quota times with their extra profit projections, take last year for example with milk at low 20's for the peak months, and then climbing into plus 30 cent by December, the 90% calved in six week farms couldn't take advantage of this as cows where well off-peak and giving the sum of f-all for Oct to Dec, in my case where I'm one of those average good for noting lads that milks all year round and doesn't get to worried when a cow calves once she is capable of throwing out 8,000 litres plus per lactation when she does I was getting bigger our comparable cheques for my milk for Sept to December then my march to Aug returns