Milk production is the lowest in five years at the Macalister Demonstration Farm. The feed margin is the lowest in four years. Hectares being used, and cows being milked, are similar. Amount and type of supplements being fed is similar. So, the main reason for the lower milk and profitability is less grass being consumed, as shown by the table of calculations, and graphs. Grass is nearly always the dominant driver of milk and money.
Fertiliser application is similar to other years. The grazing rotation (possibly a bit short for now) is similar to most years. Some paddocks have been resown with crops, the crops growing well but probably not making up for the lost growing time, before and after the crop.
The problem seems to be a wet year. It saves irrigation, but wet soils lose or waste nutrient, cause more pugging and therefore weed invasion, and make grass utilisation more difficult. Good drainage is a powerful tool.
A grass residue build-up at wet/muddy grazings makes it even more difficult to get high utilisation at later grazings, a compounding problem. The cows could be forced to fix the residue, but they will graze some patches far too hard, and milk is lost in the short and long term. An unavoidable residue-build up is best fixed by topping to an even and appropriate height.
| FEED MARGIN PERFORMANCE | MDF THIS TIME LAST YEAR | MDF TEN DAYS AGO | MDF THIS TEN DAYS | Units |
| Ten days to date: | 10,May,21 | 30,Apr,22 | 10,May,22 | |
| Milker graze area | 72 | 68 | 68 | Ha |
| Milkers | 278 | 270 | 270 | Head |
| Stocking rate | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.0 | cows/ha |
| Average graze rest time | 33 | 31 | 32 | Days |
| Estm’d pasture consmp’n | 27 | 21 | 20 | kg DM/ha/day |
| Pasture consum’d per cow | 7.1 | 5.4 | 5.1 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Pasture growing spend | $4.79 | $5.00 | $5.00 | $/ha/day |
| Estm’d pasture price | $176 | $235 | $249 | $/T DM |
| Conc (incl additives)supp fed/cow | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.3 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Conc (incl additives)supp avg price | $393 | $458 | $458 | $/T DM |
| Hay/silage supp fed/cow | 2.3 | 3.4 | 3.4 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Hay/silage supp price | $222 | $280 | $280 | $/T DM |
| Feed Conversion Efficiency | 95 | 92 | 92 | kg MS/tonne DM |
| Total feed intake/cow | 15.1 | 14.2 | 13.9 | kg DM/cow/day |
| NDF Fibre in diet | 30.4% | 29.4% | 29.2% | % NDF |
| Litres/cow | 17.2 | 16.0 | 15.3 | l/cow/day |
| Fat test | 4.64% | 4.72% | 4.85% | % |
| Protein test | 4.00% | 3.98% | 4.01% | % |
| Milk Solids per cow | 1.49 | 1.39 | 1.35 | kg/cow/day |
| Milk price (less levies)/kg MS | $7.10 | $7.26 | $7.24 | $/kg MS |
| Milk price (less levies)/litre | $0.61 | $0.63 | $0.64 | $ per litre |
| Milk income/cow | $10.57 | $10.10 | $9.80 | $/cow/day |
| All feed cost/cow | $4.22 | $5.09 | $5.09 | $/cow/day |
| Margin over all Feed/cow | $6.35 | $5.01 | $4.71 | $/cow/day |
| MOAF /ha /day | $24.51 | $19.88 | $18.69 | $/ha/day |
| Farm MOAF per DAY | $1,765 | $1,352 | $1,271 | $/day |