Participants in phase two of Dairylink Ireland submit milk production and purchased feed data into CAFRE’s Margin Over Concentrate (MOC) calculator monthly to assess ongoing levels of feed efficiency and herd performance.

The process is straightforward to carry out as the input data is obtained from monthly milk statements, feed invoices and records of cow numbers.

Each month, the information is entered on the MOC calculator on the DAERA website. Rolling annual figures are also calculated once 12 months of data has been recorded.

MOC is effectively what money is left over when the monthly meal bill is subtracted from the milk cheque. It is not an accurate portrayal of financial performance as it does not consider other variable costs and overheads.

However, meal bills typically make up 35-40% of production costs so MOC does provide a basic understanding of financial margins.

Pounds and pence

The benchmark is simple to calculate and gives up to date information which tends to have more meaning as it is set out in pounds and pence, rather than litres or kilos per cow.

Dairylink participants can also benchmark their results against all other farms in Northern Ireland that submit data into the MOC programme

A more comprehensive analysis of physical and financial data over a 12-month period is conducted on Dairylink farms annually. This considers all aspects of each business and is useful in drawing up strategic plans for the year ahead.

Read more in this week's Irish Farmers Journal and at ifj.ie/dairylink.