Eight feeding decisions that can backfire: With today's prices, everyone's trying to cut corners. But some cutbacks will cost you in the long run

摘要

AS HAY prices pass 250 dollar a ton and shelled corn jumps over 5 a bushel dollar, people are looking at ways to reduce feed costs, since milk prices may drop as much as 2 dollar a hundredweight in 2008. The milk-feed ratio in March 2008 was 2.05. When the ratio is over 3, it is a signal that it is profitable to buy feed to support higher milk production. The milk-feed ratio represents the pounds of a 16 percent mixture of dairy feeds that is equal in value to 1 pound milk. The prices used in the March calculation were 18.30 per dollar hundredweight of milk, 4.83 dollar for a bushel of corn, 11.90 dollar for a bushel of soybeans, and 143 a ton dollar for alfalfa hay. During times of tight margins, everyone is looking for ways to cut feed costs, butbe careful. Here are some "decisions" that can be "economically wrong."