Input costs on farms are at an all time high so to ensure that you are not overfeeding cows, and thus wasting money, your feeders need to be calibrated.
Although grass is king on many Irish dairy farms, concentrates play an important role too.
Not only does meal improve production from cows but it also helps to give cows the essential minerals they require.
With input prices higher this year it is important that the level of concentrates being fed to cows is monitored.
Calibrated feeder
A simple, but often not completed job is the monitoring and calibration of concentrate feeders in parlours.
Feeders are generally set up to give a quantity of concentrates determined by a farmer.
But in some cases, it might actually be over or under-feeding cows. To determine whether this is the case a simple method is to place a bucket under the feeder.
Allow the concentrates to fall into the bucket and then weigh the contents. This will determine if your feeder is giving the correct amount or not.
This method should then be repeated on all the feeders in the milking parlour.
If your feeders are off by 200g and you milk 100 cows, this could result in an extra 40kg of meal being fed/day.
Based on a 300-day lactation, and a feeder giving an extra 200g/milking, each cow could be receiving an extra 120kg in the lactation.
Over a 100-cow herd this could result in an extra 12t of meal being fed over the year.
Continue to monitor
As the milk production season progresses it is important that you continue to monitor the level of concentrates being fed.
It is recommended that feeders are checked and calibrated each month to ensure that the level of concentrates being fed is correct.
Simply over-feeding by 200g/milking/cow could result in a huge increase in cost and with input costs being so high, savings should be made where possible.