Two dairy farmers meet at an event. One says the farm spends 260 TRY a day on feed per cow, the other 310 TRY. The first thinks they are the more careful one. But the second farm's cows average 34 litres of milk a day, the first farm's 27 litres. To tell which farm uses feed better, you need to look not at cost per cow but at cost per litre and at income over feed cost.
Income over feed cost
Income over feed cost is a cow's daily milk income minus her daily feed cost. The figure shows directly what the feed earns, and it is the money left to cover the farm's other costs: labour, vet bills, energy and depreciation.
Take an example, with illustrative numbers. Milk sells at 18 TRY a litre. On the first farm a cow gives 27 litres, so daily milk income is 486 TRY and feed costs 260 TRY. Income over feed cost is 226 TRY. On the second farm a cow gives 34 litres, milk income is 612 TRY and feed costs 310 TRY. Income over feed cost is 302 TRY. The cow fed more expensively earns 76 TRY more a day.
Feed cost per litre shows the same picture. On the first farm a litre of milk takes about 9.6 TRY of feed to produce, on the second about 9.1 TRY. The cheaper ration produces more expensive milk per litre.
What does an extra kilogram of concentrate earn?
The real strength of this calculation shows when judging ration decisions. Say the first farm is thinking of adding 1 kg more concentrate per cow a day. Concentrate costs 15 TRY a kilogram. If the cows are expected to give 1.5 litres more milk a day as a result, the extra income is 27 TRY and the extra cost 15 TRY. Income over feed cost rises by 12 TRY per cow a day.
The point to watch is that the link between extra feed and extra milk is not the same for every cow. A high-yielding cow in early lactation answers extra energy with milk. A cow in late lactation turns much of the same extra energy into body fat. So feeding cows separate rations by yield group directs feed to the cows that will respond to it most.
Counting the whole herd
The feed cost of milking cows alone does not show the farm's feed cost. Dry cows, pregnant heifers and growing calves eat feed too but give no milk. Their feed cost should also be charged to the milk the farm produces. On a farm with a high share of dry cows and heifers, feed cost per litre at herd level is clearly higher than the figure worked out for milking cows.
For example, a farm with a hundred milking cows has fifteen dry cows and forty heifers. If dry cows cost 150 TRY a day in feed each and heifers 120 TRY, these animals eat 7,050 TRY of feed a day. Divided over the 2,700 litres the milking cows produce, that is about 2.6 TRY of extra feed cost per litre. Lowering the age at first calving and not rearing more heifers than needed therefore has a direct effect on the cost of milk.
Feed efficiency
Another useful indicator is feed efficiency: the amount of energy-corrected milk a cow produces for each kilogram of dry matter she eats. This ratio shows how well the ration is used, independent of the milk price. If feed efficiency is low, either the ration's digestibility is low or a large share of the energy the cows eat is going not into milk but into body fat or health problems. Following the ratio by group makes it easier to find which group the problem is in.
Refusals and waste
Another part of the sum is what is left in the bunk. If the ration is built for 23 kg of dry matter per cow but 5 percent is left as refusals and thrown away, part of the feed paid for was never eaten. Leaving some refusals is necessary so that cows can always find feed. But tracking how much is left and keeping it from being more than needed lowers the real feed cost.
Storage losses are part of feed cost as well. Heating at the silage face, hay left in the open and concentrate exposed to rain can mean that a significant share of feed bought or grown never reaches the cow. If these losses are not counted, the cost of the ration on paper does not reflect reality.
Calculating regularly
Income over feed cost and feed cost per litre are figures that should be worked out and followed every month. As the milk price, feed prices and milk yield change, these figures change too, and only by following them is it possible to see the real effect of a ration change.
OptiFormula TMR shows dry matter intake, daily cost per head and income over feed cost for every ration. Because separate rations can be prepared for milking, dry and heifer groups, the herd's total feed cost can also be seen group by group. The effect of a ration change both per cow and per litre of milk can then be judged on the same screen.
On a dairy farm, the aim of lowering feed cost is not a cheap ration but cheap milk. Being able to tell the two apart means making every decision about the ration with the right number.
