Fernando Diaz
Since feed is the highest individual cost in intensive dairy production systems, the Feeding Technician is one of the most important job positions at the dairy. According to the USDA Economic Research Service (2018), during the last decade feed costs represented in the US between 42 and 57% of the total cost of producing milk.
At current feed costs of $0.24 per kg of dry matter (DM), the average budget of a 500-cow dairy exceeds one million dollars.
One of the areas of focus for improving income over feed costs is ingredient loading accuracy. Researchers from Virginia Tech demonstrated that 4% of all total mixed ration (TMR) loads were underfed by more than 180 kg in nine dairy farms located in the Chesapeake Bay (James and Cox, 2008).
On the other hand, frequency of overfeeding in excess of 180 kg was 33%.
Similarly, researchers from California (Trillo et al., 2016) evaluated dairy feeder performance based on loading deviations from target weight. The study included 26 dairies that ranged in size from 1,100 to 6,900 cows.
Continue reading this article published in International Dairy Topics.
