increase font size
Dairy farmers are being told that there are opportunities to increase profitability even when times are tough.
Consultant nutritionist to animal feed producer SealesWinslow, James Hague says with the pressure of a lower payout this year, farmers are now on the hunt for strategies to cut costs.
But Hague says it’s all about finding the most effective and efficient way of turning feed into milk.
“As a part of Ballance Agri-Nutrients we are focussed on helping farmers with this process so they can achieve the best results for their farm.
“We have access to a range of tools which help us to compare a farmer’s potential milk production to their actual production, identify the gaps and then then come up with the approach for filling those gaps so that production and profitability are optimised.”
SealesWinslow have analysed over 500 herds using a milk prediction software programme, which compares a farm’s actual production to its target production to identify any deviations as the season progresses. They have found that the average farm could achieve an additional 30,000 kgMS based on their peak production.
The results are noteworthy, says Hague. “At a $5.00 payout, that’s an additional $150,000 worth of gross income.”
Any gains to be made are not just down to adding purchased feed into the mix. Ballance offers a full package, which includes maximising the benefits of home grown feed in combination with looking at where improvements could be made so that a balanced diet is on offer.
“There is a good amount of forage already grown on the farm that gets wasted. The waste isn’t underfoot, it’s within the cow. Some purchased feeds do little to improve the utilisation of grass and silage, so we look at balancing the diet to help extract as much feed value as possible from the whole diet.”
SealesWinslow offers a free vice to help farmers to crunch the numbers using their expertise and a range of different tools. To ensure that the diet is profitable the team looks closely at returns on dollars invested in feed. Margin is a key measure and needs to be sufficient to translate down to the bottom line and fit in with cash flow.
Farmers looking for help with balancing their herd’s feed supply with demand to maximise production and profitability can call the SealesWinslow team on 0800 287325.
When buying supplementary feeds, farmers need to consider the entire package on offer – service, freight and all the components in a feed mix – not just focus on the price of the cheapest component – palm kernel meal, according to J. Swap Stockfoods sales manager Joe Hardman.
From this winter farmers will have a greater choice of feed types and blend options than ever before, thanks to Farmlands' purchase of animal nutrition company SealesWinslow.
Good milk flows, healthy cows and fewer spring headaches are all possible if cow body condition score (BCS) is well managed between drying off and next season's calving.
Trace elements are the ‘invisible fence at the top of the cliff’ that can protect a dairy herd’s health and ensure cows meet their full production potential, says SealesWinslow nutrition extension specialist Simon Butler.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
