Intensive housing of dairy cows now involves 10pc of the herd

About 10 per cent of the nation’s dairy herd is now run in an intensive system, and the big outlay is paying off in more ways than one.

Efficiency is driving the move into intensive dairying with up to 10 per cent of the nation’s herd now housed in an intenstive system.
It’s not a one size fits all, with some housed in freestalls, loosing housing, composted bedding pack barns or drylots.

But such has been the swing that there are waiting lists for sheds to be built according to Agriculture Victoria’s program manager for dairy services Scott McDonald.

And while the move is not for the faint-hearted, requiring a multi-million dollar investment, Mr McDonald said the benefits were seen to offset the cost.

Key among those benefits was the boost in productivity, where controlled feeding regimes could maximise performance from genetics.

But other benefits included improved animal welfare, labour efficiency and protection of pastures and ground cover.

Mr McDonald made a presentation to Herd 25 at Bendigo last week, where delegates were told of the growing popularity of accommodating dairy cows in contained housing facilities, either in loose housing or in freestalls.

“These facilities are designed to house cattle with long-term occupation, with limited or zero grazing,” Mr McDonald said.

“Drivers for zero grazing systems are many, but they are particularly good for herds with better genetics.
“Cows that are on pasture and producing 8000-9000 litres per lactation may have the potential to do 11,000-12,000 litres in an intensive system.”

Intensive facilities can also provide a more controlled environment, decreasing the production losses incurred through extremes of temperature like heat and cold, and even from not needing to walk the herd significant distances across the farm.
“It decreases the walking they need to do, and walking can decrease milk production by 0.4 litres/km on flat ground and 1 litre/km on hilly country,” he said.

“Cows dealing with heat stress can use 20-30 per cent of their energy intake trying to defend their core body temperature too.”

In a controlled dairy facility, this energy can be used for milk production, with less stress on the cow having to deal with climate extremities when grazing pastures.

Other benefits for full time housing of dairy cows included less pugging to soil in wet conditions and less feed wastage.

But Mr McDonald said at a potential cost of $6000-$10,000 to put the cow in the shed, it was important to put the right cows in the shed. Most farms should focus on improving efficiencies in their grazing system and feed management as the transition to an intensive system was not a silver bullet, he said.

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett said intensive dairying was appropriate in some areas, especially where heat was an issue and barns could offer higher animal welfare.
But he said any further moves towards housed dairy systems might be curtailed by lower milk prices.
“It all comes down to cost, and when you have a milk price deterimined by the international market, as we do in Victoria, then you have to work out if you can make a margin from a multi million dollar investment like housing cows,” Mr Bennett said.
Western Victorian dairy farmer Simon Rea from Panmure has about 500 cows in a housed system, and said it had allowed him to lift numbers by about 25 per cent.
Mr Rea said it was the ability to keep cows off pastures in wet winters that encouraged him to go down this path.
“With the way land prices are, you can put up a shelter and increase numbers at about one tenth to one fifth of the price (of buying land),” Mr Rea said.
The shelters, which are steel framed with a polythene roof, were being used in New Zealand.
Mr Rea visited NZ to see them, then installed some at home, and works part-time with Dairy Shelters Australia who sells the shelters.
“There are now about 40 of these installed, mainly in Victoria,” he said.
Mr McDonald said there were established national guidelines for feedpads and contained housing which dairy farmers could use, as well as a decision support tool – (Farm System Evaluator) to help dairy farmers choose if it is right for them. The resources are available on Dairy Australia’s website.

Mr McDonald was involved in writing the first Victoria guidelines for feedpads and freestalls in 2010, and at the time, there were only about three dairy businesses in Victoria that were operating an intensive system.

Now he has about 200 farms that he has assisted, and said there would be more that had sought private consultant advice.
“There has been a significant transition to intensive systems for a range of reasons,” Mr McDonald said.
“Yet one of the real keys is it gives flexibility despite what the season throws at you.
“You have the facilities to manage the herd, right down to the ability to have two years feed ahead of you ready to go, and that gives certainty to production.”