Feeding Strategies During Challenging Times

Difficult economics in the dairy industry now and likely for much of 2018 have herd owners and their advisors working to find opportunities to increase margins and/or cut costs. Using averages from 36 New York farms that completed both the 2016 and 2017 Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary (Karszes et al., February 2018 PRO-DAIRY e-Leader), purchased grain and concentrate cost averaged $5.81 per cwt of milk (31% of total operating costs) and total feed and crop expenses averaged $7.34 per cwt of milk (39% of total operating costs). Given the large contribution of feed and crop expenses to total operating costs, it is logical to carefully evaluate these aspects of management. In this paper we outline five key focus areas to ensure that your feeding program is all that it can be.College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Pro-Dair