Getting
Down and
Dirty on
the dairy
farm with
Emma
& Jet
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma

Emma and Jet
• My name is Emma I am 16. As part
of my HSC I am doing a dairy
traineeship at Clover Hill Dairies.
• My name is Jet. I am also doing a
dairy traineeship with Alan and
Leesa Swan at Hillview Dairy.

Hi
I’m Jet
Hi
I’m
Emma

Latest Happenings
Staff Updates:
Meet Bella our
new
office assistant

Cream of the Crop Competition
Dairy Youth Australia and Landlearn NSW have launched
the Cream of the Crop Competition - a great opportunity
for NSW students to win $1000 and get published
• The Cream of the Crop Competition is open to students in
NSW Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions studying
Agriculture, Primary Industries or Natural Resource
Management related topics.
• There is over $4500 in prize money on offer with an awards
ceremony scheduled for the Sydney Royal Easter Show,
2010.
• For full details and entry form visit: Enter and
www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au/competition win $1000

What are Jet and Today we are going
to learn about what
Emma going to happens during
teach us today seeding season

March is seeding time @
Clover Hill Dairies and
technology has changed a
lot in the 170 yrs we have
been sowing seed to grow
lush tasty feed.
Its seeding time

And this year there has
been a huge upgrade in
technology. We have
bought a direct drill.
Wow the girls are going
to be eating some lush
grass this year.

Pasture Paradise
Clover Hill is the ideal package for growing high
quality grass.
• Farm faces the North East.
• Fertile volcanic basalt soil.
• Temperate climate. (15 to 25 degrees C and summers and winters
last for similar lengths of time)
• High rainfall 2000mm or 80 inches of rain
per year.

Pasture Paradise cont……
• Rotation length (time it takes for cows to eat
all the pasture from one end of farm to the
other ) 14 (spring summer)to 28 ( winter)
days.
• Urea (nitrogen fertiliser) use 80 to 150kg/ha
FYI recommended application rate.
• Pasture grown per hectare 17 to 20
tonnes/ha/yr.
Wow !!!!! – that’s a lot of pasture.

Crops (wheat etc)grown and
forages (hay)cut ?
Its too
– Nil !!!!! steep
silly
Why
not

Getting it right Pasture
needs all of these
things working
together
Food/
Nutrients Soil
Fertiliser worms
Organic matter Oxygen
Weather
Temperature Sunshine
rain

Growing Grass is very serious
business
• If you want to feed your cows well and make
money you must know how to grow great
grass.
• It is often said the difference between a good
farm and the rest is two weeks.
• The grass must be at the right ( lush & tasty)
stage every time you put the cows in the
paddock after milking.

STARK REALITY
DROUGHT 2003.
Its this simple

SAME PADDOCK
two weeks after the
rain finally came.

The next paddock the
cows go into could also
look like this from poor
My goodness I grass management if the
cant make milk farmer is 2 weeks behind
eating this. looking after his pasture.
Its this simple

Its that important !!!!!!
• Poor quality grass = 10 litres milk/cow/day
• High quality grass = 40 litres of milk/cow/day
Doesn’t take long to do the sums.

Now here’s a cow who must really eat some
grass.
This is Cindy.
She holds the Australian Milk Production
record.
Cindy has given over 21,000 litres of milk every
305 days for the last 3 yrs.
That’s a milk tanker full every year .

• You cant control the climate but you
can make sure you are ready willing
and able to make the most of the soil,
the seed and the rain when it comes.

Action Action Action
Optimizing the grass is to know what
and when
• What to grow
• When to plant
• When to fertilise
• When to graze
• And DOING IT

Starting at the beginning
• The pasture
(grass) base on
our farm is
kikuyu. This is a
grass that is
native to Kenya
where the
Kikuyu tribe
live.

Nitty Gritty of
Grasses
Learn all about the
structure of grasses at
www.2farm.co.nz

Kikuyu Grass (Pennisetum clandestinum)
• Is a rapidly growing aggressive grass that is very
drought tolerant and resistant to heavy grazing
• It grows from a thick network of rhizomatous roots
and sends out stolons which extend along the
ground, rapidly forming dense mats, and
suppressing other plant species.
• It grows well between December and April
Want some serious kikuyu knowledge??
Then check this out.
www.futuredairy.com.au/documents/TechNoteKikuyu.pdf

Kikuyu – work with it don’t
fight it
You have to work very hard to keep it under
Wow! control but its worth it.
Just look at
that root
system

Oooh!!!
This is diet kikuyu -
too short

This is tough
kikuyu .
Tooooo long.

This looks good doesn’t it??
Looks can be deceiving.
•Kikuyu up to your knees is bad news as it is well past its
best use by date.
•Cows tend to tip graze (where all the sugars are) to get
the juicy bits – (just like you when you have a choice
between Brussels sprouts and chocolate)
• This means lots of grass is left behind and the farmers
(Mike and Nick) spend 24 hrs a day on the tractor mowing
the grass left behind by the cows.

So if we move the
roots up to here this is
just right – This is what
we call, in grass lingo
the 3 to 4 leaf stage.

Mmh ………Just
right

Happy mediums
• Graze at about 10cm high and graze down to
5cm Putting it into
perspective.
Bella is about 15cm
tall. So if its taller than
Bella its toooo tall.

When does it Grow
• Kikuyu flourishes in the warmer months
but is very slow growing and loses its
goodness (lower energy content) in the
winter.
• And growing good grass for feeding
dairy cows is all about having energy
rich grasses.
• So what do we do we grow for winter??

Winter Grass Strategy
• At Clover Hill we oversow our kikuyu
with oats and annual ryegrasses in
March.
• The trick is to make sure the kikuyu
doesn’t strangle the new oats and
ryegrass seedlings.
• How do we do this ? We use the cows as
lawn mowers and encourage them to
graze harder by reducing the rotation
length.

If you put some ryegrass
seed in a saucer with a
small amount of water to
cover the seed. Then put it
somewhere that gets plenty
of light it will look like this
in about 4 weeks.

When does it Grow….
• Ryegrass (lolium)is the perfect energy rich grass and
is native to Europe Asia and North Africa.
• Annual ryegrass is a cool-season grass well adapted
to sunny conditions and moderate temperatures. it
is often sown at high rates to over-seed warm
season grasses for Autumn, winter, and early spring
feed Annual ryegrass dies in the late spring to early
summer.

Not a bad
paddock of
ryegrass. Even
if I do say so
This is Mike – he myself.
looks pretty
pleased with
himself .
Looks
yummy to
me and I
should
know.

This is a paddock of oats. Can you
see the leaves are much wider than
ryegrass? Oats doesn't have as
much energy content as ryegrass
but it grows quickly and fills the
April May “feed gap” in Autumn.

This is the variety
of oats we plant.
It is called Moula
and it has very
broad leaves.

What do you think
Bear?
Is this oats and ryegrass
ready for the girls?
How about you check it
out for me?

Its not too short.
Its not too tall.
In fact its just right!
The girls give it the
thumbs up.

Planting
Broadcast Method – tried and true at Clover
Hill.
• Until this year before we bought our new
direct drill we broadcast all our seed.
• Broadcast seeding is the scattering of seed
over the soil surface. It is essential that steps
be taken to ensure good seed to soil contact.
• We still have to broadcast seed on 75% of the
farm as it is soooo steep.

This is the fertiliser
spreader on the back
of the tractor. We
also use it to
broadcast our seed.

This is how we do it
• Put the cows in the paddock to eat the
kikuyu right down.
• Use the topper if necessary (prefer not to as
the grass clippings left behind shade the new
seedlings).
• Broadcast seed with a fertiliser spreader
behind the tractor.
• Then we put the dry cows on the paddock to
walk it in.
• Question: What is a dry cow??? http://www.fairvuefarms.com/terms.htm

This is our
topper or
slasher – big
lawn mower.

Then we all do
a rain dance off
course .

New Technology
• Direct drilling is where seed is drilled into the
soil, with minimal or no disruption to the soil
surface.
• Direct drilling is very cost effective as you
don’t need to use as much seed and seed
contact with the soil is much more reliable.
• The seed is protected from the wind.
• The seed is closer to moisture in the soil.

http://www.bertini-stirtloe.com

Awesome Web link
• Lots of great up to date easy to read research on
ryegrass can be found at this site
http://www.dairyextension.com.au/Main.asp?_=Project%203030%20Resources
• For the latest on ryegrass
Gems from Project 3030: Notes from the field day held at DemoDairy, Terang on 28
May 2009
Here is some good
tips on where to go
for more great info

Horses for Courses
• Not all farms are the same and in many cases
a single chemical spray ( glycophosphate)
and planting system is simpler and more
effective.
• Lets take a look at our other farm which is
flat as a pancake and gets 75% of the rainfall
of the home farm.

Here paddocks 1,2 and 3 are
under performing and we
made the decision to spray
them out with a herbicide.
We will plant oats in March
and when the timing is right
plant Lucerne.

Strategy – Hobble the
competition
• In this case we do not want the kikuyu to regrow next
summer as we have a new permanent base pasture we wish
to plant – Lucerne
• Lucerne is a temperate perennial legume capable of
producing high quality forage throughout the year,
• Its main production period falls in the spring, summer and
early autumn. Lucerne is the third most widely grown
pasture legume in New South Wales.
• So we need to permanently ERADICATE the kikuyu
• The following slides show you how we went about this.

Lucerne
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/seeds/living_mulch.html

Day 1
Let the
lawn
MOOwers
in.

Lawn MOOwers leave too much
behind
Day 2 & 3
Turn the
excess
grass into
bales of
hay.

Day 4
Spray
paddocks
with
herbicide.
(chemical to
kill
kikuyu)

Day 10
Bella – the
new office
assistant
and
Michael
fill up the
direct drill
with seed

The right formula
Three conditions determine
germination:
• heat
• oxygen, and
• water.

Oxygen

Day 28
The oats
is up
and
looking
good

Looks like we
need another
plan
But
wait it looks
like the oats
has some
competition.

Strategy – fuel for the race to
cover the space
• One of the most critical times to pay attention to
fertilisers is during the sowing of new pastures.
• The new pasture must have all the necessary
nutrients to grow at a rate faster and stronger than
competing weeds.
• Fertiliser can be sown with the seed by the direct
drill.
• Fertiliser can also be applied to the emerging
seedlings to give them a quick boost
• Adapted from http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/

Okay so when do us
girls get to taste the
oats

So lets ask the expert !!
This is Neil ( and his son Matt)
We call Neil the Guru. He is our
farm consultant and he fine
tunes everything on our farm.

Using the gumboot method
• Best grazing is from top of gum boot to the ankle ball.
(i.e. 30-35 cm down to 5-7cm).
• Now, on the first grazing it will be important to go in
at the stage when the oats is attached and will not pull
when grazed. This could be at 20-25cm height.
Otherwise, by the time you get to the end of the
rotation, the last plants will be 60cm high!
• The problem with letting oats grow too long- the
growth point rises and if the cows graze below this the
tiller will die. Also, grazing a little earlier will promote
tillering (additional baby plants at the base of the
main plant) producing more plantlets for subsequent
rotations.

Using the gumboot method cont..
• New pastures needs to be grazed to encourage tiller
formation. This will cause each plant to expand to fill
in the bare gaps in the pasture.
• Insufficient grazing will result in too many tillers
becoming reproductive (flowering and producing
seeds). Once tillers have been reproductive they die
and the result will be smaller, weaker plants.
• Over-grazing, on the other hand, prevents tillering.
This weakens plants resulting in thin pastures and
weed invasion. A balance needs to be achieved.
Cheers Guru

Very Important Fact
• Grass loses over 40% of its energy content
when it produces seed.
• Good dairy farmers work hard to ensure the
grass NEVER EVER goes to seed.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• There is another very important reason why
farmers should grow energy dense, good
quality water efficient grasses.
• Why? Well improving the digestibility of the
diet, through a combination of improved
pastures, concentrate feeding and decreasing
the number of cows will further reduce
methane production without reducing milk
production.

WIN – WIN
Strategy @ Clover
Hill Dairies
Running a small number of high-
producing cows generates less
methane than running a larger
number of less productive cows,
producing the same volume of milk.

http://media.photobucket.com
Methane = CH4
CH4
CH4
CH4
CH4
CH4 CH4

Remember this slide ????
• Poor quality grass = 10 litres milk/cow/day
• High quality grass = 40 litres of milk/cow/day
Doesn’t take long to do the sums
CH4 CH4 CH4 CH4

In a nutshell
Growing the finest pasture you can is all about
• Good grazing management.
• Optimal pasture cover.
• Selection of the right species for the area
• careful paddock rotation.
Focusing on maintaining good soil fertility and structure,
helps us avoid many of the problems associated
with high intensity farming such as erosion, soil loss and soil
damage

Pretty intense and some Mmmh this is my very
complex concepts with the favourite paddock.
seeding story but us girls Yummy Yummy ryegrass
deserve only the best grass Cant wait to get my teeth
Wouldn’t you agree?? into the new Lucerne.

Visit our new Website
www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au

The Jet and Emma Series is a Dairy Youth
Australia inc initiative assisted by Kiama
Municipal Council through its Sustainable
Living Grants Program.

Jet and Emma Farm Management
Education Series K to 12
Links
Milk It
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-milk-it
Cups On Cups Off
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-cups-on-cups-off
Grow Grass Grow
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma
Seeding Time
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-seeding-time-1236604
How it all began – a Taste for Dairy
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/jet-and-emma-a-taste-for-dairy
Healthy Landscapes
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/dairy-farming-with-jet-and-emma-healthy-landscape-1641792
Circle of Life – Calf to Cow
http://www.slideshare.net/LandLearnNSW/circle-of-life-calf-to-cow

Acknowledgements
Farm yard animal graphics have been created
for the “Jet and Emma Get Down and Dirty
on the Farm” series by students from Mt Terry
Public School

Watch
this
space
we will
be back
soon