Forging a future in dairying (May 25)

Maximising milk produced from forage is high up the agenda for one South Wales-based dairy business, run by two young brothers. We visited them to find out more.

TEXT LAURA BOWYER

Look up the dictionary definition of ‘forge’ and it says: ‘to create something strong, enduring, or successful’. That was the Duthie brothers’ rationale when naming their pedigree herd, Forge Holsteins, and embarking on their share-farming agreement five years ago at Pencraig Farm, based on the outskirts Newport in Wales.

Before pursuing their dream of dairying in their own right, Frazer worked on his family’s farm, which is close to their tenanted unit, while Ollie had a career with ForFarmers as an account manager.

Starting from scratch, Ollie and Frazer founded their herd with 50 cows purchased using a bank loan secured during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We managed to expand numbers to 80 cows during that first year, and today we have a herd of 135 head, with 120 going through the parlour at any one time.”

The main cubicle shed at Pencraig was built in 1993. It houses 115 cows, and the brothers have invested in cow comfort. “We have updated the mattresses, installed new cubicles and lights, as well as fans. We have also raised the rail along the feed passageway, to improve cow access, and grooved the concrete floor,” says Frazer.

The business has also invested in a Dutch-manufactured JOZ multi-scraper to keep the slatted floors as clean as possible.

Milk yield

Herd average yield is 10,600kg at 4.46% butterfat and 3.26% protein, and Ollie says they are working towards achieving 11,000kg. Members of the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group, a key aim for the Duthies is for the herd to produce at least 4,000 litres from forage. Concentrate feed rate currently sits at 0.28kg per litre.

Aiming for a 390-day calving interval, and averaging between 170 and 180 days in-milk, the brothers also strive to keep the milking herd ‘fresh and efficient’, calving between 12 and 14 cows and heifers each month. Frazer and Ollie have also invested in CowManager, a system comprising an ear sensor that measures cow temperature, feeding, rumination, and activity data. This tech generates accurate and early health alerts to support both herd and individual-cow management.

“This system is particularly helpful because we both live off-site, and it helps us to ensure that herd health and fertility stay on track,” says Ollie.

Maximising forage utilisation is also a priority for the Duthies and, with this in mind, they have adopted a multi-cut silage system. Five cuts are taken from 45 hectares, and the brothers also grow 24 hectares of maize, with an additional eight hectares bought-in. Silage analyses have been consistent during the past five years, with an average ME of 11.2MJ/kgDM across the cuts.

Seed mixture

The brothers also re-seed leys using ForFarmers’ Intogen, which is a high-yielding cutting and grazing mixture that includes hybrid tetraploid and diploid perennial ryegrass to add density to the ley. It also includes Aber high sugar grasses, a variety of tetraploid rye grass called Seagoe, and a blend of clovers.

With the aim of calving heifers for the first time at 24 months old, calves are reared on a 50% skimmed-based milk replacer VITA Milk Premium. This is fed twice a day at a rate of 1kg of CMR powder per day until weaning at between 10 and 12 weeks old. They are also offered an 18% starter nut and hay.

Milking cows are fed to yield using a partial mixed ration (PMR) at the feed fence and are topped up to yield in the parlour with ForFarmers’ HE Super 18 concentrate. High-yielding cows are fed 15kg of forage dry matter, comprising of 65% maize silage and 35% grass silage, plus 6kg of a customised blend and 8kg of Mash Pro 30, which support maintenance plus 30 litres.

The low-yielding group’s ration comprises grass and maize silage, plus 2.5kg of a blend and 4kg of Mash Pro 30, which supports maintenance plus 18 litres. Heifers are fed surplus PMR from the milking herd and Ollie says they aim for a refusal rate of less than 8% from the lactating cows.

To support fertility and low somatic cell counts, MinLine Health Protec mineral is also fed to cows. When cows are initially dried-off, they are housed in a sand-bedded yard, designed to help reduce somatic cell counts and antibiotic usage.

Close-up cows are fed 1.5kg of Translac Advance Nut and a diet that aims to achieve rumen fill, containing 5kg of chopped straw, 12kg of maize silage, 6kg grass silage, 4kg Mash Pro 30, and 1.5kg dairy blend.

“We aim to offer the cows an energy-dense ration by using high D-value forages produced on-farm, which are balanced with high-quality compound feed and blend,” says ForFarmers’ Colin Hair.

Using the company’s Feed2Milk ration programme helps him to balance forage and feed by using an acidosis index and a rumination index to maintain rumen health, increase microbial protein and maximise performance.

Maize silage: home-grown and bought-in forage is added to the herd's PMR

Yield potential

“We focus on supplying the correct amount of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates and true digestible protein. And we also look at the MELK figure,” he adds. MELK is an indicator of the true yield potential of a diet and focuses on the glucogenic and ketogenic nutrients supplied. It indicates the amount of energy in a ration that is available to the cow for milk production and maintenance. This, ultimately, drives milk production.

Maximising milk production from forage positively impacts the herd’s carbon footprint and this is something the brothers are aware of from a sustainability point of view.

“Both sustainability and cow welfare are important to us. Eventually we’d like to invite local people and school children to our unit to show them what goes into producing milk,” says Ollie.

“And we’d also like to own our own farm one day. What we are doing here at Pencraig is just the start and our aim is to build a business that’s strong and resilient that we can pass on to the next generation.”