A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO DAIRY HERD MANAGEMENT

摘要

It's no secret that maintaining a profitable dairy herd means taking care of the moneymaker on the farm: the cow. However, good managers understand dairy management is a complex web of connected decisions that ultimately ensure the long-term health and profitability of an operation."Focusing on one single area of the dairy can have an impact on other areas," says Victor E. Cabrera, Extension dairy farm management specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "When we look at dairy productivity and profitability, we must take all aspects of the herd into account."Monitoring feed efficiency (pounds of 3.5% fat-corrected milk per pound of dry matter consumed) is at the top of the list when it comes to profitability.