How small change can make big difference to your margin

摘要

Cows at Cross Fell Farm, Kirkby Fore, Cumbria, didn't seem to be producing to potential but, after a careful reformulation of the diet, margins increased by a very impressive ￡6000 a month. chieving significant improvements in milk production and quality, as well as health and fertility, need not involve major changes to a herd's feeding system, according to results from one Cumbrian family farm, in fact, the Metcalf family - Michael, Anne and their son and daughter John and Emma - have proved convincingly that impressive improvements can be achieved by keeping the ingredients in their herd's ration almost unchanged, but simply altering the proportions of each. The Metcalfs were set on this course through a dissatisfaction with the performance of their herd - which had increased in number from 150 in 2002 to 350 today -and the strong conviction that their cattle were failing to come close to their genetic potential.