Dairy Farm Management

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 72, Issue 6241, 12 June 1946, Page 6

Dairy Farm Management

“Dairy farm management has been summed up, perhaps all too briefly, as: ‘Breed the cow, feed the cow, milk the cow,’ ” stated Dr I. L. Campbell, in an address at Massey Agricultural College. “There is no doubt, though, it the feeding of the cow is one of the most important factors in influencing milk composition, milk flavour, and therefore the manufacturing methods used in butter and cheese making. We are faced with two : main feeding problems on the farm—that of providing quantity and that of providing quality—and these two factors often do not work together. There may be on the farm abundant pasture at the right stage of growth, but it may be so full of land cress that the cream is de-graded, or event rejected. On the other hand, there may be abundant non-tainting pasture, but it may be so mature and stalky, and so low in available nutrients, that milking cows cannot eat enough of the material to supply their needs for maintenance and milk production, and are, in effect, on a low plane of feeding despite the apparent abundance.