Dairy cows are amazingly tough and resilient animals with the majority remaining outdoors all year. Diets vary widely; most survive through harsh winter and early spring conditions, give birth, and produce remarkably well.
Some years ago a farmer in the Waikato drafted out his lightest cows in autumn, put them into a large covered shed and fed them almost entirely on kiwifruit. It wasn’t long before they gained weight and were reintroduced to the main herd without fuss for wintering.
There are cows close to main centres that are fed waste produce from Supermarkets that includes a variety of potato chip type products and a range of confectionary. Although I haven’t seem them I have it on good authority that these cows perform well by industry standards, with the intriguing part of this story being that a considerable amount of this ‘food’ is still in its wrapper.
Dairy cows that die as result of a calcium/magnesium deficiency or imbalance do so not because their diet is a little deficient, but because their diet is substantially deficient or imbalanced, and unsuited to the animal’s requirements for calving and early lactation.
This is where a single annual application of dolomite can have a major impact. A single application of 220kg/ha provides 25kg of magnesium and 53kg of calcium per hectare, however it is what results that is important.
The magnesium content of grass as a result of a dolomite application may vary from 0.22 – 0.25% depending largely on the amount of direct sunlight. Leaf calcium content usually measures no less than 0.60% as the calcium and magnesium release at the same rate.
Dairy cows fully fed on grass with this Ca and Mg content receive sufficient to ensure Ca/Mg related metabolic disorders are minimised and production after calving moves rapidly toward its peak, provided rumen function is good.
Now before the calculator is brought out to see whether there is some other way the same amount of calcium and magnesium can be applied by mixing other products together, think about the soundness of the argument that cheapest is best.
Think about your own farm vehicles. Were they the cheapest available when you bought, or was the main consideration their suitability for the work to be undertaken? Can the cheapest vehicle be relied on to perform faultlessly year after year?
Soils are living breathing organisms and the health of our animals in spring is a direct reflection of the health of our soils. Continuing to apply the same soil nutrient package each year, with perhaps minor tinkering, enduring the same animal health problems each spring when there are alternatives that provide largely trouble free calving suggests flawed thinking.
With the present value of quality dairy animals and the increasing payment for fat and protein this is the time to maximise health and performance by applying dolomite, proven to outperform all other calcium/magnesium options.
For those still not convinced, buy 25kg bags of dolomite, empty them into a container where it can stay dry, make it available to the herd each day, observe and monitor.