At the MDF, production and profit are being focused on. This year, with urea prices continuing to climb, production may decrease due to the need to remain profitable.
In terms of production, the two main productivity indicators on a grazing dairy farm that affect profit are “kg of grass dry matter consumed per hectare per day” and “kg of milk solids produced per cow per day”.
The MDF hectare productivity is currently 48 (compared to 54 this time last year) and the cow productivity is 1.83 (compared to 2.13 this time last year).
Grass per cow is also a driver of profit on a grazing dairy farm. It is currently 10.7 kg DM grass per cow per day (compared to 12.9 this time last year). 2.2 kg of grass per cow is a significant difference and would be largely responsible for the different milk production, because the quantity of supplements are the same as this time last year.
This lowered production is most likely due to the reduced nutrients contained within the foliar fertilizer which the farm uses during winter. On the advice of an agronomist, and also due to the steadily climbing urea prices, the farm has delayed its switch back to solid urea in the spring. The farm will be shifting back to solid urea to boost late spring and summer grass production, but this move will also be scrutinised very carefully to determine the effect elevated urea prices have on margins at the farm.
However, when we look at the MDF’s profitability, when looking at the figures in the table below, the MDF’s margin, even with much lowered productivity as mentioned above, is only $34 per day less than the same time last year, and throughout October, the MDF’s margin was actually slightly higher than the same time last year.
| FEED MARGIN PERFORMANCE | MDF THIS TIME LAST YEAR | MDF TEN DAYS AGO | MDF THIS TEN DAYS | Units |
| Ten days to date: | 10-Nov-20 | 31-Oct-21 | 10-Nov-21 | |
| Milker graze area | 68 | 61 | 65 | Ha |
| Milkers | 285 | 285 | 295 | Head |
| Stocking rate | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.5 | cows/ha |
| Average graze rest time | 28 | 30 | 30 | Days |
| Estm’d pasture consmp’n | 54 | 49 | 49 | kg DM/ha/day |
| Pasture consum’d per cow | 12.9 | 10.4 | 10.8 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Pasture growing spend | $3.85 | $2.12 | $3.02 | $/ha/day |
| Estm’d pasture price | $71 | $44 | $62 | $/T DM |
| Conc (incl additives)supp fed/cow | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Conc (incl additives)supp avg price | $353 | $417 | $417 | $/T DM |
| Hay/silage supp fed/cow | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | kg DM/cow/day |
| Hay/silage supp price | $/T DM | |||
| Feed Conversion Efficiency | 114 | 110 | 111 | kg MS/tonne DM |
| Total feed intake/cow | 18.6 | 16.1 | 16.5 | kg DM/cow/day |
| NDF Fibre in diet | 33.6% | 31.2% | 31.4% | % NDF |
| Litres/cow | 29.0 | 24.7 | 25.8 | l/cow/day |
| Fat test | 4.08% | 3.90% | 3.83% | % |
| Protein test | 3.27% | 3.30% | 3.33% | % |
| Milk Solids per cow | 2.13 | 1.78 | 1.85 | kg/cow/day |
| Milk price (less levies)/kg MS | $5.83 | $6.51 | $6.55 | $/kg MS |
| Milk price (less levies)/litre | $0.43 | $0.47 | $0.47 | $ per litre |
| Milk income/cow | $12.41 | $11.58 | $12.09 | $/cow/day |
| All feed cost/cow | $2.99 | $2.89 | $3.10 | $/cow/day |
| Margin over all Feed/cow | $9.42 | $8.69 | $8.99 | $/cow/day |
| MOAF /ha /day | $39.50 | $40.61 | $40.80 | $/ha/day |
| Farm MOAF per DAY | $2,686 | $2,477 | $2,652 | $/day |