Dairying , every day, involves a classic conundrum - the cows need to go somewhere today - but we know that putting them on inadequate pasture will hit that pasture hard, and reduce pasture regrowth.

If there is oodles of pasture, of course this is not an issue (although pasture quality or fibre balance may be). However for most of the year our stocking rate ensures that we must strike a balance between the needs of the cow and the good of the pasture, (ie keeping it growing at the maximum rate)

There is often a spiral in here somewhere!

Not enough pasture today and cows eat it right down and wander around tramping (or worse - pugging) pasture leading to slower regrowth. Result - not enough pasture when the rotation puts cows back in this paddock.

Feeding out onto the pasture makes it even worse! Leaf loss & pasture damage - including over-grazing - means that cows are still underfed (or need extra grain to make up the shortfall).

The spiral continues � and it's downhill all the way!

Consider the opposite.
With a Fair Go Dairy Feed Pad we can choose to feed every cow just the right quantity of whatever quality feed is needed to boost or balance their ration today, given this limited amount of pasture. We can feed the herd without affecting the pasture's ability to get away quickly, and to grow at maximum speed.

We can achieve this in several ways:

1. We can feed cows on the pad once or twice a day after milking and then put them onto (limited) pasture  all day and all night, knowing they are fully fed. This is OK for up to 6-7 kg DM hay or silage / day. Wouldn't it be nice if this was enough?
2. If fully-feeding cows requires more hay or silage, we can stand cows off  with extended access to the Feed Pad for 3-4 hours or even all night. Pasture growth will not be reduced by the feeding operation. Result: more paddocks growing more pasture; pasture contributes a relatively higher proportion to the diet (ie reduced feed costs)
3. We don't waste a paddock as a sacrifice paddock.
4. We can extend rotation length to exactly where we need it, for maximum pasture growth.
5. We can maximise utilisation of both pasture and hay/silage.

All this while reducing feeding time, labour and machinery. We can fill the Feeder with whole rolls or big squares each 2-3 days and making sure every cow has a Fair Go. (In 1. above, heifers and shy cows can even have preferential treatment)

We have many good stories from Farmers using a "Waste-Not" Fair Go Dairy Feedpad for these in-between times when an extra  bit of pasture growth makes a big difference in productivity.