“We've been a full TMR (total mixed ration) system for about three years now,” Marcus Flanagan said.
“We grow all the feed, harvest it and bring it back to the cows.
“Moving to a fully-housed system makes it easier to handle the extremes of the weather.”
Woodlawn Dairy runs a 600-head milking herd currently, but the plan is to reach 900 in three years.
Feed and shelter are at the centre of this ambitious goal.
In September shedding will be going over the currently exposed feedpad.
Right now the farm is in the middle of constructing two sheds and a concrete area — dubbed the ‘feed centre'.
The two new sheds will have concrete bays installed where grains and byproducts like almond hulls, cotton seed and canola meal can be stored.
The area from the feed centre to the feedpad will be concreted for better machinery access.
“The idea with the concrete is it reduces waste,” Mr Flanagan said.
“If it drops on the ground it is waste. It's gone. Whereas on the concrete you can pick it up.
“Attention to detail and your wastage is important ... as soon as we put our feedpad in we were saving three tonnes of feed a day and our new feed centre will help even more.”
When it comes to making silage for TMR feeding, keeping an eye on dry matter and chop length at harvest is crucial.
“We aim to make our silage at 32 to 33 per cent dry matter, whether it's cereal, corn or lucerne silage,” Mr Flanagan said.
“That moisture helps the ensiling process, it helps pack better, get all the air out, makes the silage better and cuts down the loss of energy value in the feed.”
Woodlawn Dairy uses contractors to harvest the silage.
Mr Flanagan's advice to farmers shopping around for a contractor is to make sure your communication is crystal clear.
“The contractor needs to be well aware of the process — how it's weighed, tested and billed — plus what moisture and chop length you're chasing,” he said.
“We've got a really good contractor who's got good gear, a fair rate but, most importantly, he is very professional.
“It's essential to get the harvester when you want to harvest. It's only two weeks between having really good silage and ordinary silage.”
The farm's commitment to a clean and tidy silage system extends to the feeding out process.
Feed-out workers use a face shaver attachment on a telehandler to ‘shave’ silage off the bunker.
“It has little teeth on it, it spins and shaves how much the guys need,” Mr Flanagan said.
“The shaver keeps it all neat and tidy and stops the air getting into it. It cuts down on all the loose stuff.”
Having full control over what their cows are eating gives the Flanagans the ability to create special mixes for their herds.
Springers and maternity girls get their own mixes, as do the early lactation and late lactation milkers.
“That is one of the things which interest me, being able to get things exactly right and give the cows what they need,” Mr Flanagan said.
“They can be massive producers if they are looked after.”
Corn makes up 70 per cent of the silage on the farm, with about 11 to 12 tonnes of it fed-out daily alongside four tonnes of additional fodder.
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