The second season of the high-input vs low-input systems management trial on the Stratford Demonstration Farm is near the halfway stage and there have been some interesting results so far.
After a moderate winter, the spring has been up and down with the low-input herd a little ahead of last season in production, but with lower levels of supplementary feed made, while the high-input herd is well ahead in production, but has brought in much higher levels of supplements. The high-input herd has also had the use of the covered feed pad and stand-off shelter for the season.
The current EEE farmlet trial on the farm aims to determine the economics, efficiency of feed use and environmental effects of two widely different dairy farm systems. One farmlet is a low-stocked self-contained system on all grass feeding with no brought-in supplements except replacement stock are grazed off. This is system one under the DairyNZ classification system. The aim is to be lower stocked at 2.8 jersey cows per hectare to make use of modern genetics and good feeding to achieve high per cow and good per hectare production and have a very profitable system with low environmental effects per hectare. The other farmlet is a high-stocked high-input system with high levels of brought-in feed.
The aim is to use most of the pasture grown by milking cows, buy in feed to achieve high per cow production, very high per hectare production and a high profit while minimising environmental effects especially on a per kg milksolids basis. This is system four under the DairyNZ classification system. The stocking rate is 4.1 jersey cows per hectare this season.
Winter this year had moderate pasture growth and conditions.