In Alan Jefford's own words: "You cannot afford not to put in drainage".
He is convinced about the profitability of subsurface drainage for dairy pastures in high rainfall areas.
Alan decided to install subsurface drainage rather than investing in additional land.
Subsurface drainage has allowed him to increase his winter pasture growth rates and reduce susceptibility to pugging, which purchasing additional land will not achieve, while also allowing the calving pattern to be moved forward from spring to autumn and take advantage of higher winter milk prices.
Silage can now be harvested when it's ready, with wet soils not limiting the harvest date.
Alan and his family have been farming in Australia for 20 years, after migrating from England, spending four years in the Hunter Valley and 16 years on the current farm at Cloverlea in West Gippsland (110km east of Melbourne and 15km south-east of Warragul).
Average annual rainfall is 1020mm and can vary from 685mm to 1250mm, with the entire 176ha farm now installed with subsurface drainage.
Around 350 cows are calved down each year between January and September, but only 200 of these are kept in the milking herd.
The overall stocking rate is about 2.4 cows/ha.
The normal fertiliser application rate is a custom mix of 6:6:6:7 at 250kg/h/year, usually applied in May and pastures are limed each year.
July, August and September are the months when pugging is most likely to occur on this farm but since putting in drainage, Alan estimates pugging has reduced to 25 per cent of what it was 20 years ago when he first came to the farm.
In addition to the usual benefits of reduced pasture and soil damage by preventing waterlogging, drainage has also meant less udder washing.
Originally 90 per cent of cows required udder washing before milking 20 years ago. Cows udders are no longer washed, which has resulted in a reduction of sediment in the milk.
Pasture management
A large proportion of the herd calves in autumn to better utilise pasture, maximise lactation length and capitalise on higher winter milk prices.
Cows are grazed behind an electric fence with two moves per day throughout the lactation.
Winter pasture growth has increased because of the drainage.
When pasture growth exceeds cows requirements, paddocks are locked up and surplus is conserved as silage or hay.
By having increased winter growth rates from drainage, pasture can be locked up for silage and cut much earlier than previously.
This early cutting of silage has associated benefits of better quality and faster pasture regrowth.
Alan has found that pastures on his drained paddocks also persist longer because of much less pugging damage.
He said under drainage, only minimal pugging occurred and pasture recovered quickly.
If soil is already wet and there is heavy rain cows may be offered a larger grazing area.
A feedpad was built nine years ago to make feeding maize silage easier. It allows cows to be fed as they leave the dairy.
Previously cows would go on to wet paddocks empty and hungry, and being discontented, walk around causing more pasture damage.
At the morning milking, half the herd eats while the other half is being milked. They are then swapped over. Cows spend up to 1.5 hours on the feedpad.
The impact of drainage
Alan estimates that milk production has increased by a factor of four since the first year on the farm.
This is partly attributed to the installation of drainage, in combination with soil testing and appropriate fertiliser application, application of lime and improving pasture species.
As a result, cow numbers have been increased from 80 to 200.
Drainage has allowed Alan to move forward his calving to take advantage of the higher winter milk prices.
This is a result of increased pasture growth in winter and spring from better drained soils, leaving more suitable conditions for root growth.
Less pasture renovation is required, as subsurface drainage has reduced the incidence of serious pugging that damages pasture.
He wanted to maximise use of pasture, as it's the cheapest feed source.
- Agriculture Victoria