“I had been thinking about our cow feeding problem for a long time,” says John Cockerell of Warrain  Jersey  Stud,  at  Waaia  in  northern Victoria. “We had been feeding silage twice a day, and a lot was being left in the paddock as waste. We also needed a system that filled a void in their intake at milking time.”

“Over time I looked at other systems, they were either too big, too much work, or too expensive. Then, at a field day, I found a system which was exactly what we wanted.”

John and Margaret Cockerell’s stud has been established  for  over  30  years,  beginning  at Apollo Bay, then moving to a 120 acre (47 ha) soldier settlement block at Waaia in 1980. In 1992 they purchased next door and then a block further over in 1998. They now have a total of around 340 acres (136 ha).

John says that they have an effective cropping, pasture  and  grazing  area  of  around  118 hectares. Cow numbers have peaked at 330, and they are currently milking 325. They also carry about a hundred 15 to 24 months old heifers, plus another 74 yearlings.

Focus on Production

The breeding program is 100% AI, and John and Margaret have been using US bloodlines for over 18 years.

“We are aiming at what we call a ‘functional dairy animal’, with a focus on improving udder wearability.   We   are   totally   production- orientated, driven by the ability to service debt. That has been critical just as much in the past as  it  is  now.  We’re  now  using  mainly  US bulls  and  a  small  amount  of  Danish  and Canadian blood.

“Our cows are much bigger than the traditional Australian Jersey milker of a few years ago, but with  our  systems  and  experience  over  the years, we can manage them bigger.”

The Cockerells have a 22 swing-over shed, using a DeLaval plant with automatic removers, with Larsen stall gates. Margaret says milking takes about two hours and 2_ hours in spring with fresh cows. The cows get grain and a protein and mineral supplement in the bail.

In 1999 they put in a Waste-Not Fair-Go dairy feed pad with room for a ‘batch’ of 66 cows each side - the equivalent of three sides of their milking shed.

The cows go straight from the milking shed to the feed pad. It takes about 25 minutes to milk each batch, so the cows spend a minimum of 25 minutes - and up to 40 minutes - feeding at the  pad.  The  aim  is  for  them  to  eat approximately 2 kg dry matter of feed.

Huge Production Increases

John  says  that  the  resultant  lift  in  milk production has been outstanding: “When we started  using  the  Waste-Not  feed  pad,  we jumped 850 litres per cow in the first year. The second year we increased a further 300 litres per cow. This was all without feeding any more grain. We just changed the feeding pattern.” The cows at Warrain Jerseys are now averaging 6500 litres per year.

Protein has jumped from 225 to 265 kg, and butterfat from 270 to 315 kg under the Waste- Not Fair Go system. John says these are the numbers which really count and shows the value of the feeding system.

This feed pad design, which works well for any size  of  dairy  operation,  allows  operators  to maintain pasture as the focus on the farm, and ensures that animals are getting a fair ration and a controlled amount of fibre.

“We  like  to  think  that  they’re  eating  more because  they  have  more  time  to  eat” says John.

The Cockerills put in an 18” raised dirt pad topped with 12” gravel to start with, and then concreted that over after a year. This size of feed pad is relatively smaller than most people would expect for these herd numbers, and so concreting the area becomes feasible.

Margaret says that the area where the cows are standing whilst feeding used to get chopped up a bit as the cows dug in their rear feet to get purchase.  But the area is now very easy to clean. Manure is all contained on the concrete, and John or their son, Edan, just picks up the manure with a front end loader, and spreads it back onto the paddocks.

They are looking to improve this access area for even better cow flow, and also to improve the effluent disposal side of the system.

Quality Feed is the Key

They  mainly  feed  round  bales  of  silage,  or alternatively  good  quality  clover  hay  and lucerne, depending on the season.

John or Edan replaces some of the feed each day as it is eaten, but it is all generally eaten out over a maximum of three days. According to Terry Allan of Waste-Not Stockfeeders, this is the ideal rate of consumption of the feed.

“We originally planned to keep the feeder full all the time,  but secondary fermentation of the uneaten  silage  on  the  bottom  of  the  pad became a problem. Now we just refill it when it’s needed.

“We went from conventional round baled silage to chopped and inoculated silage, which means that you can get more feed into a bale. A 4’ x 4’ chopped bale gives more feed and dry matter at the same cost, so you might as well get as much as you can.

“It is really important to control what you put in. The better the quality, the more they’ll eat it up. We  can  quickly  tell  if  there’s  lower  quality because intake drops. If it’s baled right, with the right pH, it’s OK for three days without getting hot. The biggest thing is that we believe we can stabilise rumen pH, because of the fibre that they get from the feed pad.