Feedpads for Grazing Dairy Cows

by John Moran, Scott McDonald

Overview

This book is the first detailed and comprehensive guide to the use of feedpads in the dairy industry, from planning and construction to day-to-day management, written especially for farmers. With ongoing droughts and access to water driving up the cost of conserved forages and feeding concentrates, feedpads offer flexible and efficient systems to maximize returns on feeding expensive supplements to grazing dairy cows, and form part of the risk management strategy for dairy farms.

Feedpads for Grazing Dairy Cows covers all the aspects of animal husbandry involved in running a successful system and addresses key issues such as formulating rations to balance grazed pasture, management of farm labor and effluent management. The key principles of dairy nutrition are explained along with the concept of partial mixed rations and the range of potential ingredients. The authors also cover the physical features of feedpad design and construction and provide a checklist for planning a feedpad.

This book demonstrates a wide range of long-term economic benefits and will play an important role in helping dairy farmers achieve higher farm profitability.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780643097681
Publisher:	CSIRO Publishing
Publication date:	02/28/2011
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

John Moran is a retired Australian senior research and advisory scientist from Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries. While working for DPI, he advised both farmers in southern Australia and dairy farmers and advisers in South and East Asia. His specialist fields include dairy production, ruminant nutrition, calf and heifer rearing, forage conservation and whole farm business management. He manages his consultancy firm, Profitable Dairy Systems, and has published over 200 research papers and advisory articles and five previous books on tropical dairy farming.

Scott McDonald is a Senior Dairy Extension Officer with Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries, located at Echuca in northern Victoria.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
2 An overview of Australia’s dairy industry
3 The role of feedpads in pasture-based dairy farming
4 Physical aspects of feedpad design
5 Managing feedpad effluent
6 Key principles of dairy nutrition
7 Partial mixed rations
8 Feeding management of partial mixed rations
9 Cow management
10 Farm management
11 Economics of feedpad technology
12 Guidelines and legislation
13 The future role for feedpads in Australia’s dairy industry
Abbreviations and conversions
Glossary
References and further reading
Index