Can we lift yields without feed costs gobbling up our margin?

摘要

Although feed prices have rocketed lately there's never been a better time to be pushing yields provided it can be done cost effectively. KW nutritionist Ian Pickles discusses tactics for increasing output this winter. In many cases, silage quality islower than last year yet the opportunity to boost profitability on the back of recent milk price rises is the best for many years. The challenge is how to push those yields without sacrificing too great a proportion of the additional income on feed costs. The underlying problem facing a large proportion of dairy units is that lots of silage was made during wet weather or from mature grass. This presents a less-than-ideal base for high output dairy rations. For the majority, silage energy levels are typically around 0.5-1.0MJ ME/kg DM down on previous years, although protein contents are similar. Dry matters are also generally lower, with some questions being raised about the palatability of this year's stocks.