Small amounts of money are generally not considered as important, but in farming, an increase or decrease of price by 1 cent can make a considerable difference.
Cost control in dairy farms
In tough economic conditions reduction of production costs and increase of production are the only options for dairy farmers in the long term. But before we make a plan for cost reduction we have to have a cost overview on our farm. Variable and fixed costs items must be systematically analyzed with the emphasis on forage, investments, fuel consumption, etc.
Feed expenses
Feed is one of the major expenses in milk production and feeding plans reduce feeding costs. In extensive farming, the addition of relatively small amounts of protein in feed can increase milk production significantly. On more advanced farms, where farmers already use feeding plans for optimal feed, the approach must be different. Most of the programs for feeding plans do not calculate costs of feed production. PANTHEON Farming software, on the other hand, provides information about feed production from seed to the end product and takes into account all the expenses and is as such a basis for making right decisions. Using Farming software, we can reduce costs by small amounts in many different places and at the end, every saved cent adds to profit.
See PANTHEON Farming video Feeding Plan Optimization on: https://www.datalab.ch/modules/livestock/
Veterinary costs
Compared to feed costs, veterinary costs are much lower but still considerable. Every cow has its own history of diseases that may significantly affect its performance and capability of milk production. If we follow the data for every single cow in the herd, we know exactly what the expenses and production are, so we can take measures on time. Cows with low productivity and fertility problems can be easily detected and excluded from production.
With the PANTHEON Vet solution, Datalab Agro provides efficient flow of information between farmers and veterinarians. More on: https://www.datalab.ch/modules/livestock/
In our next issue we will write about barn environment and its effect on milk production.
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