David and Carrie Irvine have what Lincoln University veterinary scientist Dr Jim Gibbs believes is the best fodder beet wintering system in the country.
That’s saying something given Jim’s seen hundreds of fodder beet wintering operations first hand.
In the South Island alone he estimates there are several hundred thousand cows chomping their way through the sugar-rich crop this winter.
The Irvines’ cows, from all four of their Canterbury farms, are dining out on it at one location and are now at the “all you can eat stage” having been carefully transitioned to what’s considered ad-lib feeding.
It means they get up to 11kg drymatter (DM)/cow/day of fodder beet and 3kg DM/cow/day of silage and straw for a total cost of $1.92/kg DM.
David says over the years they’ve tried just about every wintering crop there is.
“Grass and silage, kale, chou – we’ve tried everything but we’ve settled on fodder beet. So far nothing can beat it,” he says.
It’s given them the most cost-effective and easily managed wintering option yet.
They’ve used the crop to some degree for four years but haven’t always got it absolutely right.
“Initially I think we didn’t understand all the things that contribute to successful transitioning and then it was more about how the paddocks were set up,” David says.
“We did things like sowing it out to all four corners of the paddock. Then we rang Jim Gibbs and asked for help. He immediately stopped us feeding it like that, so we ended up having to lift some and then feeding it out – and we learnt something every year since.” he says.
Over the previous four winters Jim has helped them perfect a system that would meet the ultimate wish list of minimising cost, allowing maximum cow body condition score (BCS) gains, requiring minimal staff input and optimising animal health. Seed Force’s David Walsh was drafted in to help grow “monster” crops.
On the previous wintering block they came close to getting everything on the wish list but found it was still onerous on staff.
There were 16 gates to open and close to get to each mob, as they still held on to the traditional small mobs. So Gibbs got them to put in lanes the next year.
Feeding out the supplement in one long run thanks to smart design.
Transitioning off
While transitioning to fodder beet is important to avoid animal health concerns transitioning off is more about managing potential problems from having cows too fat.
“It’s a non-event when it comes to the rumen. There’s no issues with potassium either. Even though the crop is a high user of potassium it doesn’t contain high levels of it so it doesn’t create transition problems,” Jim says.
The issues are around managing springing cow diets and ensuring cows don’t get too fat over winter.
Seven to 10 days before the planned start of calving, cows need to be fed no more than 95%-100% of maintenance and the diet should be relatively restricted when it comes to protein.
“So hay and straw and only restricted grass,” he says.
The 50g/cow of dicalcium phosphate dusted on to silage or straw throughout the season should be continued for the springer mob.
Phosphate is low in the crop and deficiencies in cows can cause “creeper cow” problems where cows go down and will literally crawl along the ground. It can be fatal but the daily dose of phosphate on the supplement is now standard advice and has proven effective.
Golden rules
- Start at 1-2kg fodder beet and don’t increase by more than 1kg DM every second day, for at least 14 days. After 14 days, hold steady feeding for seven days.
- Keep cows fully fed with supplement through transition, and get the timing right.
- Watch that the whole mob is eating fodder beet in transition
- After transition slowly increase up to ad-lib feeding of fodder beet over a few days
- Always allocate for at least 2kg DM/cow supplement eaten after transition.
