This is a subscriber-only article
There are two ways of looking at a feed and cash deficit, according to Stephen.
“There are short- and long-term strategies to dealing with both. In terms of managing a feed shortage, in the short-term I would target feed at dry cows that need it most. This involves body condition scoring [BCS] cows and grouping them based on their condition score and restricting silage to those that are at the target BCS for calving.
“With reasonable-quality silage these cows at BCS 3.25 need to only be fed 10kg dry matter per day, not the 12kg or 13kg that they would eat if unrestricted. Cows are in better BCS than normal this year so there is a really good opportunity to save on silage over the dry period. This will help to save silage, but it will also reduce the risks of over fat cows next spring, which are as big a problem as cows that are too thin,” Stephen said.
Maintenance
On long-term strategies for saving on feed, Stephen said that more emphasis should be placed on the maintenance sub index in the EBI. In a demonstration with three cows with different EBI’s for maintenance, Stephen demonstrated that the higher maintenance value cows will eat about 1.5t of dry matter less over their lifetime.
Using the same cows, he said that long term cash flow problems can be eased by breeding cows that produce more fat and protein. One of the cows in the demonstration with a high predicted difference for fat and protein is predicted to produce over 600kg of milk solids this year at a milk price of 44c/l – 12c/l above base milk price.
“That cow’s milk is worth €2,600 this year, whereas the cow with the low PD for fat and protein will produce milk worth €1,888 even though their milk volume isn’t that much different. Long-term, breeding for higher solids is the best approach to prevent cash flow problems.” Stephen said.
SHARING OPTIONS: