Rearing replacement heifers constitues one heck of an investment! It also ties up cash and adds to the farms carbon footprint. Here’s the challenge…can this cost be reduced and at the same time rear more productive, longer lasting heifers with a low carbon footprint?
1) Considering the cost of replacements
It’s well worth working out how much heifer rearing is costing. Quoted figures range from £1200 to over £2000 per head. Here we are interested in the true cash cost (value of calf, feed & forage costs, vet & med, an element of paid labour, bedding, fencing etc.) which could come to around £1,400 per head. I’ll add a quick calculator at some point for Dairy Club subscribers. In this article we are interested in highlighting the cash cost in terms of pence per litre. The ready reckoner below can help quickly work out some numbers. To focus purely on the heifers cost, this calculation does not calculate net replacement costs after the value of culls and calves are factored in.
The cost can be considerable, especially if the use of monies for rearing is using borrowings and attracts interest. The effect of Age at First Calving (AFC) can also make the cash position worse if additional heifers are being carried to maintain herd size.
Could some of this money have been used as working capital to generate more income? Could that pound or dollar spent have resulted in a better return?
Did all of these heifers warrant the investment? For some the answer is no.
2) Heifer performance
Heifers are an investment in the future herd. But how quickly do they pay back that investment and start to contribute to the pot?
The chart below shows the income analysis on a herd of cows and heifers by lactation number. There is a huge variation in earning potential between the top and bottom heifers (bars represent 2x stdev). Just bringing the bottom heifers up towards the average would be worth thousands into the bank account.
What would your herd look like?
For many of the bottom-end heifers their lifetime production can also be disappointing. It’s well worth doing the analysis and challenging the following:
- Why have they not performed?
- Will they improve?
- Should I keep them in the herd?
The next post will dig deeper into why these heifers aren’t rising with the cream.
If you need any help analysing your herd, drop me a line using the contact form below.