1/05/2009
Situation & Outlook info. sessions, N.Vic. April 2009
Looking for Opportunities
to Improve
Milk Income minus Feed Costs
Steve Little
Grains2Milk program leader for Dairy Australia
1
1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
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1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Price tag
($/tonne)
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
Purchased
feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Home-grown
feed
Beyond the price tag:
- c / kg Dry Matter
- c / MJ Metab. Energy
- $ / kg Crude Protein
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
kgs
g Protein + kgs
g Fat X Factory
yp
payment
y
system
y
* Protein test
* Protein : Fat ratio in each kg MS
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1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
Feed Conversion
How many Kgs milk are you getting from each kg feed DM?
FC = kgs Milk or grams MS per kg feed Dry Matter
Can be measured many ways - over a cow’s lifetime, over
year, a season or every 7-10 days
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1/05/2009
Which Feeding System Do You Use?
1 Pasture + other forages + low grain / conc
1.
conc. feeding in bail
(Grazed pasture + other forages + up to 1.0 tn grain / conc. in bail)
2. Pasture + other forages + mod.-high grain / conc. feeding in bail
(Grazed pasture + other forages + > 1.0 tn grain / conc. in bail)
3. Pasture + PMR +/- grain / conc. feeding in bail
(Grazed pasture for most or all of year + PMR on feed pad +/- grain / conc. in bail)
4. Hybrid system
(Grazed pasture for < 9 mths per year + PMR on feed pad +/- grain / conc. in bail)
5. TMR system
(Zero grazing. Cows housed and fed TMR)
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1/05/2009
Feeding Systems Used
on Australian Dairy Farms
100%
2%
2%
5%
5%
13%
13%
90%
80%
3%
1%
2%
6%
9%
1%
0%
1%
13%
1%
9%
0%
8%
2%
0%
5%
10%
7%
2%
0%
%
5%
0%
15%
12%
7%
23%
20%
12%
70%
29%
Other
60%
50%
51%
56%
System 5
52%
40%
System 4
65%
46%
49%
50%
System 3
69%
System 2
30%
56%
System 1
20%
34%
25%
10%
31%
17%
15%
17%
17%
10%
0%
National
Nth Vic / Riv
West Vic
Gipps
NSW
Qld
SA
WA
Tas
(Nat. Dairy Farmer Survey, 2009)
Feed Conversion in Your Feeding System
What should y
you be aiming
g for?
Annual Feed Conversion:
grams MS / kg feed DM
Feeding system
1
2
3
4
5
Pasture + forages + Low grain in bail
Pasture + forages + Mod-High grain in bail
Pasture + PMR +/- grain in bail
Hybrid system
Total Mixed Ration (Zero grazing)
* Max. biol.
potential
90
105
115
120
130
^ Achievable
target
75
90
100
105
120
* What’s biologically possible – no wastage, optimal feed quality, no feed gaps, optimal rumen function
^ Achievable in well managed systems – min. wastage, good quality feed, min. feed gaps, good rumen function
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1/05/2009
Feed Conversion in Your Feeding System
What should y
you be aiming
g for?
Annual Feed Conversion:
kgs milk / kg feed DM
Feeding system
1
2
3
4
5
Pasture + forages + Low grain in bail
Pasture + forages + Mod-High grain in bail
Pasture + PMR +/- grain in bail
Hybrid system
Total Mixed Ration (Zero grazing)
* Max. biol.
potential
1.2
1.4
1.55
1.6
1.75
^ Achievable
target
1.0
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.6
* What’s biologically possible – no wastage, optimal feed quality, no feed gaps, optimal rumen function
^ Achievable in well managed systems – min. wastage, good quality feed, min. feed gaps, good rumen function
1.4
R to C
$38k
R to C
$73k
R to C
$268k
1.3
1.2
Drought
1.1
1994-95
1984-85
1979-80
1974-75
1969-70
0.8
1989-90
Grain
feeding
0.9
1999-00
Adjustment
to change
of feeding
system
1.0
1964-65
Feed conv
version efficiency (kgEC
CM*/kg DMI^)
FC Changes on an Irrigated Dairy Farm
1963-64
1964-65
1965-66
1966-67
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
1981-82
1982-83
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
* ECM - Energy Corrected Milk
^ DMI - Annual Dry Matter Intake for milking herd including non-lactating period
(Ho & Wales, Unpublished)
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1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
Feeding
management
Diet
* Feed intake
* Feed interactions
Optimising Rumen Function
Optimising
p
g ruminal fibre and starch digestion,
g
,
maximising microbial protein production, feed intake and
feed conversion:
Protein
Starch
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1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
Feeding
management
Diet
Animal
* Stage of lactation
* Bodyweight change
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
Feeding
management
* Ruminal acidosis
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1/05/2009
Milk Income minus Total Feed Costs
$ Milk
Income
Units of Milk
produced per
unit Feed
$ cost
per unit Feed
Feed Conversion
Feeding
management
* Ruminal acidosis
* Feed wastage
Impact of Feed Wastage on Feed Costs
Example ration: 25 kgs milk from 19 Kgs DM
Ingredient Cents/kg DM Kgs DM/day $/cow/day
Cereal hay
22.5
6
$1.35
Wheat
34
8
$2.72
Canola meal
48
2
$0.96
PKE
24
3
$0 72
$0.72
19
$5.75
250 cow herd: 33.25 tns DM/week = $10,063 / week
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1/05/2009
Impact of Feed Wastage on Feed Costs
Example ration: 25 kgs milk from 19 Kgs DM
250 cow herd: 33.25 tns DM/week = $10,063 / week
% wastage Tns fed out/wk Tns wasted $/week Eff. cost/cow/day
0
33.25
0.00 $10,063
$5.75
10
36.58
3.33 $11,069
$6.33
20
39.90
6.65 $12,075
$6.90
30
43.23
9.98 $13,081
$
$
$7.48
If you can reduce feed wastage by 10%:
Save $1,000 / week
OR Feed the herd more to produce more milk
OR Feed 25 more cows
Feed Wastage – the Trade-off
30%
% feed
wasted
15%
8%
<$50
Capital
cost /
cow
$50-100
$100-200
>$200
5%
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1/05/2009
Key Messages
1. Stick with the feeding system you know best
2. Remain value-focused when buying feed – physical
assessment (inc. weights), feed analysis
3. Keep a close eye on your fat and protein tests as
well as your milk yield
4 Weigh your
4.
o r feed inputs,
inp ts estimate your
o r Feed
Conversion and compare to the achievable target for
your feeding system. Take action if necessary
5. Re-examine feed wastage in your system
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