Rodney Down: Doing our bit for reducing the fat content of milk

On July 1 we had some at 2 metres tall and most of the remainder is at or just above knee high and growing by the day.

Our grass was in desperate need of a drink as we had seen daily growth rates fall below 30kg DM/ha per day.

We were lucky to have the silage re-growth to graze but this presented us with another problem, butterfat, or lack of it.

We certainly did our bit in reducing the problem of all this fat the dairies tell us isn’t worth a lot.

We will however be facing a fine even after adding sodium bi-carb and hay to the buffer. It’s amazing how the cows can produce 3.2 per cent fat milk in the morning and 4.3 per cent in the evening.

On the arable side, we decided to apply an ear wash. The jury is still out on this one as the crops have been exceptionally clean this year and are still looking amazingly green. Of course this lowered our mycotoxin risk which has pleased our assurance inspector.

I felt like we needed a challenge so both dairy, beef and arable were booked in on consecutive days.

Full credit to Claire for finding all those records and remembering to enter the worming date for the dog that never goes near the cows. Should we not be asking all dog owners which use some of the fields and sometimes the rows of grass as a toilet to make sure their pets are properly wormed?

Usually it’s rain that drives me to the office but 30 degree humid days has meant I can make a start on writing my Nuffield report well before the deadline.

Very unusual.

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