The science behind supplementary feeding John Roche, Principal - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The science behind supplementary feeding John Roche, Principal Consultant, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

A focus of our research…

When comparing BCS of cows in TMR and grazing systems… 7.0 Body condition score, 1-10 scale 6.5 6.0 TMR 5.5 5.0 4.5 Grazing 4.0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Days post-calving

When comparing BCS of cows in TMR and grazing systems… 7.0 Body condition score, 1-10 scale 6.5 6.0 TMR 5.5 5.0 4.5 Grazing 4.0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Days post-calving

When comparing BCS of cows in TMR and grazing systems… 7.0 Body condition score, 1-10 scale 6.5 6.0 TMR 5.5 5.0 4.5 Grazing 4.0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Days post-calving

When comparing BCS of cows in TMR and grazing systems… 7.0 Body condition score, 1-10 scale 6.5 6.0 TMR 5.5 5.0 4.5 Grazing 4.0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Days post-calving

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: X 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Farm High Starch Low Starch 6-wk ICR 1 67 85 2 82 81 3 77 80 Empty 1 15 3 2 5 7 3 9 11  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Farm High Starch Low Starch 6-wk ICR 1 67 85 2 82 81 3 77 80 Empty 1 15 3 2 5 7 3 9 11  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Farm High Starch Low Starch 6-wk ICR 1 67 85 2 82 81 3 77 80 Empty 1 15 3 2 5 7 3 9 11  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Farm High Starch Low Starch 6-wk ICR 1 67 85 2 82 81 3 77 80 Empty 1 15 3 2 5 7 3 9 11  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Farm High Starch Low Starch 6-wk ICR 1 67 85 2 82 81 3 77 80 Empty 1 15 3 2 5 7 3 9 11  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Glucose infusion  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Glucose infusion  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Glucose infusion  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: X 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation; 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Marginal cost MS/ha RoA 200 Marginal cost of additional milk, $8.00 175 kg/ha above Low input 149 150 $7.00 Marginal MS, 125 $/kg MS $6.00 100 75 $5.00 66 50 $4.00 25 0 $3.00 Low Medium High Input category Average of 3 years – 2011, 2012, 2013  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

2014-15 NZ Operating Profit ($/ha) vs Operating Expenses ($/kg MS) Source: DairyNZ Economics Group  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

 John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Marginal cost-marginal benefit Marginal $11.00 $10.00 Cost Profit is $9.00 $8.00 maximised $/kgMS $7.00  $6.00 $5.00 Marginal $4.00 Revenue $3.00 $2.00 $1.00 At this quantity $- MS/ha Marginal milk is the additional (or reduced) milk when you make a system change.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Average cost hides marginal losses Marginal cost of milk, 20 $/kg MS 15 $10.75 10 y = 5.15x - 15 $5.60 R² = 0.74 5 0 3 4 5 6 7 Total costs, $/kg MS  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Marginal cost MS/ha RoA 200 Marginal cost of additional milk, $8.00 175 kg/ha above Low input 149 150 $7.00 Marginal MS, 125 $/kg MS $6.00 100 75 $5.00 66 50 $4.00 25 0 $3.00 Low Medium High Input category Average of 3 years – 2011, 2012, 2013  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Marginal cost MS/ha RoA 200 Marginal cost of additional milk, $8.00 $7.66 175 $7.50 kg/ha above Low input 150 $7.00 Marginal MS, 125 $/kg MS $6.00 100 75 $5.00 50 $4.00 25 0 $3.00 Low Medium High Input category Average of 3 years – 2011, 2012, 2013  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Stocking rate 3.35 4.41 4.41 4.41 cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha Supplements, t - - 1.3 1.1 DM/cow CSR, kg Lwt/t feed DM 86 113 82 84 MS/ha, kg 1,199 1,175 1,745 1,584 MS/cow, kg 357 267 396 359 Op profit/ha 2,544 1,845 1,390 1,812 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 6.33 5.54 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 7.97 7.81  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Stocking rate 3.35 4.41 4.41 4.41 cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha Supplements, t - - 1.3 1.1 DM/cow CSR, kg Lwt/t feed DM 86 113 82 84 MS/ha, kg 1,199 1,175 1,745 1,584 MS/cow, kg 357 267 396 359 Op profit/ha 2,544 1,845 1,390 1,812 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 6.33 5.54 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 7.97 7.81  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Stocking rate 3.35 4.41 4.41 4.41 cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha Supplements, t - - 1.3 1.1 DM/cow CSR, kg Lwt/t feed DM 86 113 82 84 MS/ha, kg 1,199 1,175 1,745 1,584 MS/cow, kg 357 267 396 359 Op profit/ha 2,544 1,845 1,390 1,812 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 6.33 5.54 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 7.97 7.81  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Stocking rate 3.35 4.41 4.41 4.41 cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha Supplements, t - - 1.3 1.1 DM/cow CSR, kg Lwt/t feed DM 86 113 82 84 MS/ha, kg 1,199 1,175 1,745 1,584 MS/cow, kg 357 267 396 359 Op profit/ha 2,544 1,845 1,390 1,812 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 6.33 5.54 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 7.97 7.81  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Stocking rate 3.35 4.41 4.41 4.41 cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha cows/ha Supplements, t - - 1.3 1.1 DM/cow CSR, kg Lwt/t feed DM 86 113 82 84 MS/ha, kg 1,199 1,175 1,745 1,584 MS/cow, kg 357 267 396 359 Op profit/ha 2,544 1,845 1,390 1,812 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 6.33 5.54 Marginal milk, $/kg MS * 7.97 7.81  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

The hidden costs of feeding Variable & Fixed expenses, y = 1.18x + 636 1500 R² = 0.99 1250 € /ha 1000 y = 0.35x + 804 R² = 0.9965 750 500 0 200 400 600 800 Feed expenses, € /ha Source: Ramsbottom et al. 2015 Journal of Dairy Science.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

The hidden costs of feeding Variable & Fixed expenses, y = 1.18x + 636 1500 R² = 0.99 1250 € /ha 1000 y = 0.35x + 804 R² = 0.9965 750 For every € 100 spent on feed total costs increase € 153 500 0 200 400 600 800 Feed expenses, € /ha Source: Ramsbottom et al. 2015 Journal of Dairy Science.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Hidden costs? • Waikato: $1.68 • Canterbury: $1.53 • Ireland: € 1.53 • UK: £1.62  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: X 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Why farmers feed supplements? Surveyed farmers in Ireland and New Zealand Many reasons, but grouped into: X 1. Prevent BCS loss in early lactation (repro); 2. ‘ease of management’; 3. ‘cow - centric’ judgements; X 4. Increase MS production to increase profit.  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

One final cost! Environment Two environmental concerns: • Nitrate leaching • Carbon footprint  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice

Increasing stocking rate actually reduces NO 3 leaching 60 Nitrate leached, kg/ha 60 Nitrate leached, kg/ha 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 y = 0.34x - 51 y = -12x + 73 20 R² = 0.80 R² = 0.79 10 10 P < 0.05 P = 0.06 0 0 200 225 250 275 300 0 2 4 6 Lactation length, days Stocking rate, cows/ha For every extra cow/ha Reducing lactation length reduces in a ‘closed’ system , NO 3 leaching by 9 kg/ha for each NO 3 leaching declines 12 kg/ha month less in milk  John Roche, Down to Earth Advice