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Participants in phase two of Dairylink Ireland submit milk production and purchased feed data into CAFRE’s Margin Over Concentrate (MOC) calculator, to assess ongoing levels of feed efficiency and herd performance.
The process is straightforward, as the input data is obtained from monthly milk statements, feed invoices and records of cow numbers.
Each month, the information is entered into 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.
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. The following information illustrates how performance has changed on three programme farms since January 2020 and how the herds performed in May and June 2020.
Stephen and Hazel Wallace manage a predominantly autumn-calving herd in Co Down, which is in the process of being dried-off. Since January, the herd recorded a small increase (2%) in rolling annual milk and solids yield, while maintaining feed efficiency at 0.31kg/l, which is slightly better than the average recorded across all farms on the MOC calculator (0.32kg/l). Annual MOC for the farm (£1,446/cow) was similar to the average figure (£1,488/cow).
A more detailed review of the monthly performance figures showed that a focus on measuring and utilising grazed grass appeared to be paying dividends in May, where the milk from forage was calculated to be 15.5l/cow/day, compared to the average figure of 14l/cow/day recorded across all farms that submitted data.
The drought experienced in June and a drop in grass covers resulted in a greater reliance on buffer-feeding silage and purchased feed. This, in combination with cows reaching the latter stages in lactation, meant that milk produced from forage in June was 11.5l/cow/day and MOC decreased from £5.31/cow/day in May to £4.49/cow/day in June. However, it is worth noting that across all farms on the MOC calculator, the average milk produced from forage in June was 12.2l/cow/day, which highlights the issues many farmers were experiencing with the drought at the time.
James King also manages a mainly autumn-calving herd and is starting to dry cows off. Analysis of results showed that annual milk yield and milk solids yield in June 2020 were similar to that recorded in January 2020.
Feed rates in June (0.36kg/l) were higher than the figure recorded in January (0.34kg/l), which is likely a carryover effect from heavier feed rates experienced throughout the winter.
However, the drought conditions experienced in many areas in May and June were not as severe on James’s farm in Co Antrim.
As a result, he has been able to maintain higher levels of milk produced from forage for those months than that experienced in other regions.
For example, milk produced from forage for the farm in June was 14.9l/cow/day, compared to 12.2l/cow/day across all farms.
Lactation
While the MOC for June (£4.91/cow/day) was lower than the average figure recorded across all MOC farms (£5.27/cow/day), cows were reaching the latter stages of lactation and so average milk yield for James’s herd at the time (22.6l/cow/day) was lower than the MOC average for June (26.2l/cow/day), which would have contributed to the difference.
It is worth noting that had the feed rate on James’s farm been the same as the programme average, the resultant MOC for his herd would have been lower at £4.59/cow/day.
Frank Goodman in Co Monaghan is in the process of altering his calving pattern to a spring-calving herd.
At first glance, it would appear that annual milk yield and solids yield is continuing to decrease from January 2020 to June 2020, which is a continuation of the drop in production observed in 2019.
However, further analysis of the monthly data would appear to show that annual yields reached a trough in March (6,474l/ cow/ year) and are starting to rise again.
Frank is maintaining a strong focus on measuring and producing milk from grazed grass, which is shown by the milk from forage figures recorded in May (17l/cow/day) and June (18l/cow/day) this year.
This compares favourably to the production figures recorded among the top five farms recording data for those months (May, 20.6 l/cow/day; June, 15.3 l/cow/day).
These figures were also maintained despite the fact that Frank had to rely heavily on buffer-feeding the herd in June, when the drought conditions severely affected grass availability in his area.
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