What lessons have we learnt for the coming grazing season?

摘要

There's no denying that last season was a bit of an oddity, but I was particularly struck by the different ways cows responded when they were brought in last autumn. Some herds achieved a significant increase in milk yield when housed full time whileothers suffered declines of up to four litres per cow. The only consolation on these latter farms is that milk compositional quality rose substantially - in one Holstein herd I visited butterfat rose to 4.8% and protein to 3.6% shortly after housing!