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Producing more milk is the aim of many members at present, but it is proving very difficult this spring, not least because of the cost of bought-in feedstuffs. So it may be worth considering how you can make more use of home-grown forages and alternative feeds, such as straw.

But you can’t feed high yielding dairy cows straw, we hear you exclaim! True enough . . . but if you chop the right kind of straw to the right length and incorporate it into the diet at recommended levels the cows will love it, and milk production will increase. That’s the Keenan promise anyway.

First Milk picked up on the potential of this last year when we launched our T2 member initiative, whereby Keenan would rent out a machine for three months, and promised users that if they did what they were advised, they would see a 1ppl improvement in margins and probably an increase in yield.

One member who put the initiative to the test is Francis Mollatt, from Moorhouse Farm, Field, Uttoxeter, where he milks 120 average yielding cows in partnership with his wife and parents. He opted to try a Klassic 140 last winter and has just decided to keep it, following a winter of much better milk yields.

“The cows have eaten more, definitely,” said Francis. “At peak, the cows were producing around 28 to 29 litres a day, some 3.5 litres more than they have done before. They also seem to be holding their yields for longer. Their lactation curve is flatter.”

Silage intakes have not increased significantly because of the partial substitution of straw in the diet, and the amount of cake fed in the parlour has been reduced. Although the diet has not changed much, apart from the inclusion of straw, the efficiency of feed use has risen significantly, however. Before the Keenan arrived, the farm’s Feed Conversion Ratio (the amount of milk produced from one kiloDM of feed) was 1.15. Now it is 1.39.

The feeder has also saved a lot of hard labour on the farm. Although it takes about the same time to feed the cows as before, there’s none of the back-breaking manual work that used to be involved in shovelling a blend on top of the silage troughs. “The cows are a bit more content as well,” Francis added, “but most of them were so laid back before it’s a bit hard to tell,” he joked.

Profitability wise, it is difficult to work out a precise figure because of the way that his calving pattern has changed milk production in recent months and the way that input costs and milk prices have altered too, said Francis. But he is confident that it has more than exceeded the 1ppl margin improvement that Keenan promised.

“It seems to have worked, yes. We’re getting better milk yields and we’re using feed more efficiently. It has to make sense.”

If you want to find out more about First Milk / Keenan T2 please contact your Area Manager.