DAIRYING IN BRITAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19142, 7 October 1925, Page 18

DAIRYING IN BRITAIN.

BY W. lUFFEN.

FEEDING OF THE COWS. # j MILK PRODUCTION COSTS, j EDUCATION OF FARMERS.

No. n, , Few British milk-selling dairymen will ! spare the milk or the trouble necessary j : to rear their own calves, but simply buy j rtew cows into the herd, as older ones |' pass out. As so little value is set on the i calves, which are commonly,sold as soon after birth as possible, dairymen are too j often indifferent as to the kind of bull j vliev use in their herds and many men. j for purposes of so-called "economy,'' pre- ! fer to employ a cheap scrub HtiU rather 1 than pay a little extra for the services of i a high-grade sire of good milking j ancestry. The result, ot this short- j sighted policy on the part of so many j milk producers is seen in the poor qual- • ity of krge numbers of store cattle offered at most British livestock markets. J 1 Since proper feeding of the cows is so j important a facto- to bring about the j best return; from dairying, the Ministry i of Agriculture last year appointed a com- ■ mi6tee of experts to recommend a uni- j form system of feeding for milk produc- j tion. Wasteful and injudicious feeding of j the cows still prevails on many farms, i but the majority of British dairy farmers I are intelligent men, anxious to learn all that is possible about the economics of their business and recognising the importance of judicious feeding as the primary factor in profitable milk production. Education of Fanners. Through the educational efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural colleges, farm institutes, and the agricultural press, farmers have become familiar , •with up- to-date methods of feeding, based on scientific principles, and the best men feed in uii light of the knowledge that a dairy* cow of 9cwt., or lOOOi'o. {such as the average British dairy Shorthorn), needs, simply for maintenance, about lib. 1 of protein and 81b. of carbohydrate: with an additional (production) ration supplying 0.61b. protein and 1.51b. of carbohydrate for every gallon of milk she is capable of yielding at the time. The maintenance ration is provided for all the coys in common, generally in the form of grass the field in summer, j and as home-grown bulky foods, such as j hay, straw, roots or silage in winter. j About 18-201 b. of good meadow hay 1 would provide the nourishment necessary for bodily maintenance only, for an average Shor.horn cow, but a more | typical maintenance ration consists of j 40-sQlb. mangolds, iQ-lllb. meadow hay, | and 6-71b. oat straw, and this should | suffice for the requirements of the cow i when dry, even if in calf. The British dairy farmer is a great believer in the in- j elusion;. Of some green succulent food in j the winter dietary, hence the popularity j roots. When silage {oat and vetch; most common mixture), is available, a 1 maintenance ration commonly fed consists of 201b. silage, 301b. roots, 81b. of hay, and 71b. of straw. Cost of Winter-feeding Cows, la -practice the cost of the winter maintenance ration is from 9d to Is a day. An additional quantity of home- 1 grown-foods, sufficient to provide for the first pallor! of milk from every cow, is often supplied, so that ec-ws giving quite small yields frequently have no concentrates. But the productive part of the ration is commonly given in the form of oil-cakes, grains or meals, and supplied t to every cow on the basis of her yield, at the rate of 0.61b protein and 1.51b. j carbohydrate for every gallon of milk, j Single Concentrates or mixtures are used, j and, with the cakes commonly employed, j about 2jlb. to 3£lb.. provide the nutrients i require 1 for a gallon of milk. Decorticated cotton cake, soya bean cake, ground-nut cake, palm-nut cake, bean meal, wheat and wheat offals, barley, oats and maize are all utilised bv the British dairyman, who seldom feeds less than two or three at a time. Simple mixtures of heme,-grown grains, when pro- • perly balanced, may give as good results as more elaborate combinations, and a case is off record in which a yield of 2CCt) gallons in 355 days was produced on a mixture of 21b. beans and of oats to the gallon, though both must have been of high quality to have given the full quantity of digestible protein. Cost of Milk Production. f . With the large number of concentrates now on the market any number of different mixtures can be arranged, as the dictates of economy suggest, and it is Eossibie for a skilled dairyman to get is milk at a cost of no more than 4d a gallon for the productive part of the food ration. (The milk has, of course, to bear in addition the cost of the maintenance ration). Very heavy yielding cows (those supplying over five gallons daily) are not given such coarse food as straw in their ration, , but only fine meadow hay. The quantity of concentrates consumed by cows producing 7-10 gallons may reach 201b. to 301b, daily. Silage is 6 food concerning which experience in Britain is very limited, though its value in milk prduction is being increasingly recognised in this country. Its use is extending, and in recent years many hundreds of modern silos have been erected, and those who are using silage for their cows are very enthusiastic as to its value. How British Cows are Fed. The methods of feeding, "and the number of times the cows are fed daily when in the sheds, vary much in different districts. In .some parts the cows are given--7 8 feeds a day between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., in others they are fed twice only, in the belief that minimum disturbance is the best. Generally, it is customary to cut at least half the hav and stiaw into chaff about an inch long, the remainder being fed in the long state, The roots are cut, or pulped, and mixed with the chaff in a heap on the floor, being allowed to ferment for 24 hours before feeding. Any ground meals used are j stirred in with this mixture. The first j thing* in the morning, preparatory to j milking, the cows are commonly given j either a feed of long hay or a good j basketful of the mixed chaff and roots, I which they "consume during milking. When this is finished half the daily allowance of cake is fed to each cow. Later, the cows are. turned out to water, and for an airing on the pastures for a couple of hours (unless the weather is very badj, and unc.ut roots are often thrown out in the field for them. Dur i ig this time the houses arc cleaned out and flushed down, the stalls littered, and half the daily supply of lonff hay njaced ready for the cows. When the anim I? return they are tied up an-l left i>nJV terbed till the afternoon feed, when the ■whole OTdeess of feeding and milking is repeated, Only in the case of very heavy vielders is it customary to milk more than twice daily.