88 | nzdairy Staying on top of the nutritional Russell Fredric “As soon as nutrient intake drops below what the cow requires to maintain production and build reserves, production will drop and BCS targets will be harder to achieve, negatively impacting the following lactation too, and hence, profitability.” DAIRY SERVICES » NZ Manufacturers Association: Seales Winslow Ltd Preparation for spring calving and the following lactation means farmers need to be on top of their nutritional game at this time of the year SealesWinslow business development manager Paul Drew says. Weatherwise, the past season in New Zealand has been a game of two halves with the wet, wild northern summer contrasted by drought in the lower South Island and each situation has its own challenges when it comes to the quality of feed, Paul says. “At the moment we are in the late lactation stage and where there’s droughts or poor quality pasture, poor dry matter and or nutrient availability could potentially have an impact on maintaining production.” It is important to ensure cows are dried off at the right body condition score, which ideally should be around 5, to carry them through to the next lactation, he says. Cows are more efficient at utilising feed during lactation rather than during the dry phase. It is almost impossible for the cow to put on weight in the last month before calving as most nutrients are diverted to the developing foetus. Therefore, it is easier to aim to meet body condition score at dry-off rather than trying to achieve the necessary weight gain during the dry period. “As soon as nutrient intake drops below what the cow requires to maintain production and build reserves, production will drop and BCS targets will be harder to achieve, negatively impacting the following lactation too, and hence, profitability.” With the wet summer in parts of the North Island, Paul has seen the nutrient value of pasture drop off, particularly the dry matter. High levels of persistent rainfall will increase moisture in pasture and can cause physical damage too, which may cause a loss of up to 50% of a paddock’s dry matter, depending on the amount of rain and intensity while in flood situations, this loss may be much higher. Other factors to consider include protein, Seales Winslow pellets. sugar and fibre content in pasture. During the later parts of summer, fibre levels increase, and nutrient levels may not be what is expected. Monitoring these changes and ensuring that nutrient gaps are filled where necessary will help meet the production and body score objectives at this time of the year. While SealesWinslow representatives actively move around their client base as well as others, Paul encourages farmers to be proactive in contacting an advisor. The company has technical service representatives that can assess the status of pasture and feed quality, milk production and body condition scores and “help the farmer to understand where the gaps are” by taking pasture, forage and silage samples. Seales Winslow representatives frequently have both a farming background and a tertiary degree and are backed by the knowledge and experience of its team of ruminant nutritionists. Once any area of deficiency is understood, SealesWinslow can provide the appropriate solution/s given the farm systems in place. With manufacturing sites in Morrinsville and Whanganui in the North Island and Ashburton in the South Island, SealesWinslow supplies custom blended pelletised feed to farmers throughout New Zealand. In addition, the company produces mineralised molasses blocks and supplements to suit different feeding systems on farm. National operations manager Tyler Struthridge says prevention is always better than a cure when it comes to animal health. Cows can obtain key minerals as they are being dried off from one of several options provided from SealesWinslows’ range of specialised molasses blocks. “We have a way of getting nutrients into animals all year round, even when they’re dried off. That’s a good way of getting the key minerals that animals are deficient in over that time. For example, fodder beet is low in phosphorous, so we’ve got a fodder beet block that provides the nutrients given this feeding situation. Nutrition Solutions Nutritech, proudly supporting Seales Winslow and New Zealand farmers since 1915 Wemake animal nutrition and forage easy. Stock Cartage — Local & Nationwide Bulk General Cartage Stock food Cartage Fertiliser Cartage, Spreading & GPS Application Tony Bones Wlson Bulk/General D spatcher 027 418 4170 03 307 8136 tonywlson@ryalbushconz Yard 77 Maronan Rd Ashburton
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