Description
Patrice Tranvoiz is a farmer based in Plabennec in North Finistère, Brittany, with a herd of 45 dairy cows on 45 ha, with 50 acres/land accessible per cow. Patrice has always favored grazing in his system to reduce feed costs. For the past 4 years, he has been sowing forage rape in summer for grazing in autumn or winter. If weather conditions are good, grazing is possible two months after sowing (> 50 days). The use of forage rape in intercropping has several advantages: firstly, its low cost (€25 to €30/ha), secondly, its rapidity and flexibility of operation, and thirdly, it enables grasslands to be renewed without stopping grazing. The technique remains unpredictable depending on the year and sowing conditions, as the plant needs a lot of rainfall to develop (50 to 100 mm of rain during the 2 months of growth), so the ideal is to sow areas in staggered rows to encourage different climatic conditions and allow grazing at different stages of development later on. What’s more, forage rape is palatable to animals. This technique enables him to maintain access to grazing on his plot and to have forage available in the autumn. To find areas to graze, good paths are also necessary and to adapted time of grazing in the event of heavy rains. The share of forage rape in the cows’ ration is limited to 30% of the total DM of the ration (5 to 6 kg of DM maximum) which reduces the risk of undesirable taste of the milk.
