What if…you could do more milk with less purchased feed?
What if…using more purchased feed could deliver a better margin?
What-if…
As we know, dairy farming isn’t simple. Lots of things affect production but, when looking at what-if strategies its best not to get too indepth too quickly. Keep things at a straight forward level. At times of income and cost volatility, a bit of blue-sky thinking can be the key to not only surviving, but thriving in the industry.
The tool below allows you to explore different stragegies and is pretty simple to use.
Enter your Current Position; yield per cow, feed use per cow and add a feed cost. This will plot you on the Kingshay Milk Map. The banding represents a benchmark of thousands of other dairies. If you are near the top, this is generally good as you are optimising purchased feed into milk. If your current position is closer to the bottom of the band, this shows you have a great opportunity in front of you for more milk and more margin.
Make sure your cow numbers and milk price are set at the bottom. This simple version of the model assumes the cow numbers are static. Club members can access a more detailed version.
A good first challenge is to change the Planned Position to where you think your herds’ true genetic potential for milk yield is and move the feed to hit the top line as far left as you can go. What Margin Over Purchased Feed (MOPF) difference does this deliver? Is it worth pursuing? What are the key constraints stopping this from happening?
Nobody knows your farm better than you. Where you settle will be a pragmatic position in a timescale that suits you.
Challenge yourself (and your advisor/nutritionist) by asking why you are where you are? What key actions would you need to do to gain more margin? What are the costs beyond margin?
Members of the Dairy Club get access to a wider range of tools and information that enable them to delve deeper into their strategic planning, more effectively plan the road ahead and monitor progress.
If you would like to know more about Kingshay head to kingshay.com