Drive farm efficiency to help safeguard herd incomes

According to James Hague, head of agricultural development at Mole Valley Farmers, there is no certainty where the milk price will go this year, however, he stressed that demand is falling, therefore it is important to be honest about milk prices and remember that cashflow is king.

He advises farmers to mitigate external factors and drive farm efficiencies.

1. Carry out a milk price forecast. Calculate how any milk price cuts will affect the business. Based on production and prices, estimate business income and establish how it may change on the year.

2. Make the most of your milk contract. Not hitting optimal component levels for fat and protein or cell counts can add up to missing out on value.

Assess how you can improve the composition of the diet to improve constituents and how you can drive dry matter intakes and improve cow health. For every 100,000 cells you can lose 1.8% of milk, because of the damage it does to milk secretion cells in the udder. This is milk that is never seen.

3. Make feed work harder and grow more grass. If your feed rate per litre of milk is too high, your feed is not working hard enough. Aim for 1.5 litres of milk per kg of concentrate fed. The average farm is losing out on 2t/dry matter/ha, which is not being utilised. This can be through grass not grown, losses at ensiling or sub-optimal digestion.

4. Challenge the herd. Analyse the herd based on lactation and assess milk production. Are heifers performing well? If not, evaluate youngstock rearing practices and aim to improve cow longevity. If there is a wide range of production, consider splitting cows into groups so they can be fed more specifically to avoid waste. Cull poor performers and ensure heifers are calving at two.

5. Challenge yourself to reduce costs. Electricity prices have more than doubled, for some. While you can do little to control this, you can try to use less and start investing in renewables.