Roughage tour week 45 - fodder beets
Fodder beet increases levels in milk, but harvest varies
The dairy farmers who participate in the Boerenbusiness Roughage tour are busy feeding and harvesting the fodder beets. Feeding the fodder beets is reflected in milk production, according to their experiences. The harvest is variable, but turns out to be disappointing for some dairy farmers.
With Hans Schoenmakers from Udenhout (North Brabant) 15 tons of fodder beets are removed every two weeks. With this he feeds his cows around 10 kilos of fodder beet per cow per day. He has been doing this for two months. This has increased the fat content by 0,2% and its protein content by 0,1 to 0,15%. Schoenmakers does say that this cannot be fully linked to the fodder beets, because he also started feeding new maize during this period. He does not yet know exactly how many tons of Schoenmakers will get from the land. He suspects that it should be above 100 tons per hectare anyway. The yield is not too bad for him, despite the drought. The fodder beets are fed fresh, after they have been dry cleaned and shredded.
|
|
Also with Joost van Nostrum from Sint-Oedenrode (North Brabant) the fodder beets are already being fed from mid-September. He is doing this for the fourth year in a row. Van Nostrum feeds the cows 12 kilos of beets per cow per day, whereby the contents have increased from 3,65% to 3,85% protein and from 4,6% to 4,9% fat. In other years, Van Nostrum indicates that the content in the milk had even risen to 5,15% fat. The fodder beets are freshly fed and cut in the mixer feeder. During this period, one third of the fodder beets were harvested.
Drought has an impact
Bert Swaps from Hengelo (Gelderland) has the fodder beets still in the ground. Sometime next week, the entire plot will be harvested in one go. Wissels expects a low yield due to the drought and high weed pressure this year. As a result, he is counting on a harvest of less than 100 tons per hectare. That while in a good year he can quietly harvest 140 tons per hectare. Wissels expects that when the fodder beets are fed, the levels in the milk will rise to 5% fat and 4% protein.
In Wapse (Drenthe) near Robert Welhouse the fodder beets are still on the ground. Welhuis also expects to harvest them sometime this week. He still feeds fodder beets made with maize from two years ago. This year, just like last year, Welhuis will feed the fodder beets freshly shredded. As far as he can see now, the field yield is very disappointing. As he says himself: "this will be the worst harvest of the past ten years that I grow fodder beets". This is due to the drought and heat, the leaf had a hard time with the heat and drought. There was also more weeds this season. Welhuis expects to feed the fodder beets fresh until April.
Manon van der Meer
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.