2020 and Trink Dairy – a strange year

It has certainly been a strange year for us all, but some things do not change.  The seasons have come and gone and as usual and here at Trink Dairy the autumn has been kind which has given us plenty of late-season grass.  The cows have continued to enjoy this grass and we will have enough to keep them grazing each day until late November.  This will bring us to about 285 days of grazing for the year.

The cows always spend about 60 days “dry” each year, i.e. not milking and resting for their next lactation.  As is our plan, this period fits neatly into the 80-day winter window in December and January.

On-farm we have been busy preparing the yards for housing the cows, including some new roofing over a feed passage, some more cubicles in our calving shed and a new dirty water pump and sprinkler system.  These are portable cubicles that will be removed in February to give space to bed with straw where the cows will calve.

The 2020 born heifer calves are happy grazing and will have enough grass until mid-December.  They will then be fed silage outside for 2 months until the grass starts growing again.

The 2019 born heifers are all in calf, which are due in February and March, and will have enough grazing until early December when they will be housed and fed silage.