The grass season opened a few weeks ago. Many farmers have already made the first cut of the land, or are planning it. Agnes van den Pol-van Dasselaar, lecturer in grassland and grazing at the Aeres University of Applied Sciences in Dronten, explains in this column where the power of grass lies.
"Pre-sorting on a protein limit in concentrates, legal protein limit, maximization of protein content, etcetera, etcetera”: the newspapers are full of the (un)desirability of a limit to protein in the concentrate from the summer. The fact is and remains that with such a limit many control options are lost.
Control options
All the more important to look at other control options. Concentrates are not the only feed we can use to control. Grass plays an important role. Grassland is gaining more and more value in dairy farming. It is a source of cheap and tasty roughage and also provides much more such as carbon sequestration in the soil and biodiversity. And it is therefore an important source of protein on dairy farms.
The great thing is that as a livestock farmer you can largely control your own protein content in the harvested grass. You can't control the weather. But because of the decisions you make, you get a higher or lower protein content in the grass silage, or the cows graze on grass with a higher or lower protein content.
Protein
The most important buttons you turn are nitrogen fertilization and the time at which you mow or graze. A higher nitrogen fertilization gives more protein in the grass, just like early mowing or early shearing. There are a few simple rules, which have just been summarized by the CBGV (Commission Fertilization Grassland and Fodder Crops). If you give 10 kg less nitrogen, the crude protein content will drop by 6-7 grams per kilogram of dry matter with a pasture cut and by 5-6 grams with a mowing cut.
Another important rule of thumb is that the crude protein content of grass decreases per day by about 4 grams per kilogram of dry matter. Mowing or shearing a few days later therefore quickly results in a lower protein content. You may have a higher yield, but because of the lower quality you also need more concentrates for equal milk production. By taking action a few days earlier, you feed roughage with a higher protein content.
Keep those grams per pound in mind this growing season. Knowledge about control options in grass is part of the craftsmanship with which you can make a difference on your dairy farm. Not too much protein, not too little protein. Of course, this applies not only now, but also in the coming years. Grassland continues to play an important basic role on the dairy farm.
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