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Dairy Reminders For November

By Department of Primary Industries - 22nd November 2004 - Back to News

Pastures

Ryegrass leaf appearance rates for mid November in Gippsland are estimated to be 7-8 days for each ryegrass leaf to emerge and extend to its full leaf length.
Rye grass will be in its reproductive stage and sending up seed heads in early November, this will result in the fastest growth for the year. Topping after grazing will help to remove the seed heads and encourage vegetative tillering to occur.
Growth rates for November range from 50kg DM/ha/day up to 80kg DM/ha/day for high fertility productive paddocks with adequate soil moisture.
The silage season has passed, therefore now is the time to think about hay making due to the drier soils (less moisture transferring from the soil to the cut pasture) and increased air temperature allowing the cut pasture to adequately dry out for hay making.
If you have the ideal weather conditions, it is more economical to make good quality hay rather than incur the added cost of round bale wrapped silage.

Summer Crops

Once fodder crops have emerged and have been actively growing for at least three weeks, it is beneficial to apply a nitrogen fertiliser to boost growth.
Monitor crops for pest invasion, confirm the pest identification and seek advice on control options without delay.
Applications of dairy effluent onto summer fodder crops have been very effective in past years and give a greater return than pasture application.

Irrigation

It’s time to start mixing the dairy effluent into the irrigation water, as the spring pastures are very responsive to the additional nutrients.
Maintain good soil moisture levels to avoid a check in pasture growth in late spring.

Cows

Heat detection is improved by observing the milking herd grazing in the paddock mid morning and again in the early evening.
Tail painting with a different colour after each three week cycle will make heat detection easier.

Heifers

The 15 month old heifers will require a 7 in 1 vaccine booster.
Worm test kits are available from your local Vet.
The cost of a worm drench is regained with only 2 or 3kg of live weight gain.
Dehorn heifers early before the excessively warm temperatures and troublesome flies arrive.
Apply electronic tags to your young stock, so that your stock can be easily identified if they become lost or strayed from your property.

INTERSTATE DOGGER SKILLS ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP

Recently nineteen Department of Primary Industry (DPI), Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria (PV) representatives from across Gippsland attended a three-day skill enhancement workshop in southeast N.S.W at Nungatta South, 25 kilometres north of Genoa.

In total thirty Pest Animal Controllers attended the workshop, which included planners and practitioners from Victoria and New South Wales. The knowledge and experience gained will greatly assist in the management of pest animals from the Dandenong’s to Mallacoota.

David Krajca, DPI Catchment Management Officer based in Orbost, organised the workshop participation from the Victorian perspective, and said events such as this highlight the true value of the Interstate Pest Animal Working Group and allow for effective pest animal control across borders.

"Running integrated programs in New South Wales and Victoria with DPI, DSE, Parks Victoria, Department of Environment NSW and Rural Land Protection Boards staff will afford all landowners a much more efficient pest animal control program."

During the workshop participants engaged in trapping, baiting and tracking exercises.

Several of the participating doggers and recently appointed Land Stewardship representatives said that what was learnt over the course of the workshop has taken two years off their learning curve and the techniques learnt throughout the workshop could be transferred to a number of vertebrate pest animals.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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