Glen Eden Holsteins Dairy Nutrition Program

Glen Eden Holsteins base the dairy diet on improved pasture composed of perennial and annual ryegrass for most of the year, with some millet and oats in summer & autumn. The grazing rotation is between 12 and 16 days.

To complement the diet & maximise milk production the cows are fed dairy meal based on wheat, canola meal & lupins in the rotary dairy at a level determined by their daily production (0.2kg dairy meal per 1 litre of milk).A 50 litre cow will get, on average, 10kg of dairy meal per day.Our production team along with their nutrition advisors monitor the milk on a daily basis & are able to adjust the diet to ensure that the butterfat, milk protein & cell count are at the optimum levels & exceed the manufacturer’s specifications.

The dairy meal contains feed additives to maintain the cow’s health, milk components (butterfat 3.8%, milk protein 3.1 – 3.2%, cell count < 250 000) and improve herd fertility (increased by 7% in 18 months).

When the cows leave the dairy they are fed silage and hay based total mixed ration on a covered feed pad before they move to the grazing strip. The cows at Glen Eden Holsteins are a very well-bred closed herd for over 20 years. Our calves are bred & grown out on the farm. We care for our calves in a state of the art calf raising shed which is managed by a full-time staff member; their only role is to ensure the calves are healthy. Our calves receive milk replacer until weaned at 12 weeks of age. They are then fed an 18% protein calf ration which is made on the farm with wheat, some stream rolled barley, lucerne, canola, lupins, vitamins & minerals.