Category Archives: Pasture

Fingers crossed

Posted on November 1, 2018 by hoddlecows

Fingers crossed this is the start of a, ‘from little things big things grow’ story. These tiny little seedlings will hopefully form part of our cows summer diet. The seed was sown directly into the stubble of a silage crop … Continue reading →

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Kimchi for cows

Posted on March 2, 2018 by hoddlecows

Fermented foods seem to be all the rage at the moment. Our cows, like so many other cows around Australia, have been on the fermented food bandwagon for years. At this time of the year as our pasture dries off and … Continue reading →

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Topping off summer

Posted on February 15, 2018 by hoddlecows

Managing our pastures has been a challenge this summer(a challenge in a good way). Some of our mixed species perennial pastures have got a bit over mature, they look pretty with all those flowers but they aren’t the best feed … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Dairy, Pasture, Summer, Weather | 1 Comment

WWW -The Winter We Wanted

Posted on July 21, 2016 by hoddlecows

We had a long dry spell our region leading up to this winter, our fodder supplies were low and our pastures were struggling. The pastures needed rain and time to get their roots down and build reserves, the farm looked … Continue reading →

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Plans sometimes need to be changed

Posted on October 17, 2013 by hoddlecows

Waking early most mornings to collect the cows for milking I sometimes head off in the dark thinking here we go again, ground hog day.  But what I love about my job is each day is different and as much … Continue reading →

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Winter milestones

Posted on July 17, 2013 by hoddlecows

  Winter can be hard work on a dairy farm, wet, muddy, cold, windy and short days.  It’s not all bad though, I love the crisp winter days and I must admit part of me enjoys the cold fronts which … Continue reading →

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Sun setting on another season

Posted on May 17, 2013 by hoddlecows

The Montrose Dairy farming calender revolves around our herds calving date. Our herd is a seasonal calving herd, which means all the cows calve in one batch over a few weeks. This calving period is timed to match the seasons … Continue reading →

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Record heatwave matched and more to come

Posted on March 10, 2013 by hoddlecows

Record heatwave matched and more to come March 10, 2013 from The AgeWe always expect a bit of early autumn hot weather, like usual when the weather turns hot my thoughts turn to cow comfort. Keeping our cows cool is … Continue reading →

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Time to get our crap sorted

Posted on March 8, 2013 by hoddlecows

Our cows like the vast majority of dairy cows in Australia live in pasture 365 days of the year. Living in the pastures means most of the cows’ manure goes directly on the pasture, providing nutrients to grow more grass. … Continue reading →

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Straight into summer

Posted on December 11, 2012 by hoddlecows

There is often a lot of tractor work to be done on our dairy through spring. Silage to be harvested, pasture renovation work, summer crops to sow and all this tractor work is usually wrapped up with the end of … Continue reading →

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