High Feed Costs - What can you do?
Feed prices look set to remain at higher levels in the future than they have been historically due to World supply and demand. Whilst we can expect some volatility, forward forecasts show little sign of improvement.
As always at RWN as responsible feed suppliers who are in the job for the long term, we have the best interest of our customers at heart. We will do our utmost to minimize feed costs to our customers. That said what can you do to reduce the overall cost of feedstuffs to your business?
Alternative Feeds:
There are possibilities to explore in terms of feed efficiency on farm. Consider using alternative feeds. There are many alternative feeds available. Molasses, liquid feeds and moist feeds may offer savings over dry straight feeds, blended feeds or compound feeds. Good nutrition advice can be invaluable. An example of using molasses or liquid feeds would be to replace a proportion of the protein in a TMR with Regumaize.
High protein molasses products such as RWN Optimise 28 or Regumaize 44 is currently a much cheaper source of protein than Rape / Soya.
Live Yeast Supplements:
Live
Yeast supplements such as Biocell Farm Mix are now widely accepted in the UK and are well
proven. These advanced yeast supplements have the ability to increase dry matter
intake and to improve feed efficiency.
Yeast improves both energy and protein utilization of the diet with resultant improvements in performance. Feeding yeast supplements to high yielding dairy cows as part of a well designed nutrition package will generally result in considerable herd health benefits.
Yeast will increase milk output, reduce the need to feed expensive bypass protein, improve feed efficiency and increase net profit. Similarly the use of rumen buffers, well balanced specialist dairy minerals to avoid defficiency and other supplements can not only increase milk output, improve herd health, reduce culling rates but also reduce overall feed costs per litre.
More from Forage:
Looking forward, cutting silage earlier with the use of an effective silage additive will have substantial benefits in terms of animal performance and reduced concentrate use next winter. Quality forage is the basis of any high performance dairy diet. In recent years there has been a trend towards cutting silage well after the optimum D-Values has passed. The result on many farms has been high fibre, low digestibility, low protein forage with relatively low feed value. This has required very high levels of expensive high protein concentrates and has resulted in under performing cows and poor cow health due to acidosis.
The aim should always to cut early. Aim for at least 3 cuts, not two and cut when the grass is ready or earlier. Don't be tempted to wait for the crop to bulk up, if the weather is there. The case for using a silage additive as a routine part of the silage making process on all silage cuts, whether for dairy cows or for young stock is proven beyond doubt.
There have been major advances in the understanding of the biochemistry of silage making and the role and effect of
silage additives in that process. This has lead to the introduction of some very advanced and innovative new
silage additives designed for a range of situations. The choice of appropriate product has never been more important or the benefits greater.
Richard Webster has had a heavy involvement and interest in the use of silage additives for many years. RWN is at the forefront of the silage additive market and has access to the most advanced silage additives available. These include a range of silage inoculants and inoculant preservative combinations to give the most effective and appropriate silage treatment for a wide range of forage crops and conditions.
All silages need to be treated with an effective additive
Increase Milk Output to Improve Profitability:
Milk output is still the major factor in determining the profitability of most dairy farms
Investing in sound nutrition advice now to increase future milk yields will take full advantage of improved milk prices when they come, which they will. Whilst cutting input costs generally reduces output and profits, Feeding cows for improved health and higher milk yield increases farm profitability.
Now is an ideal time to review your long-term future feeding strategy
Richard Webster Nutrition Ltd offers a full nutritional support package to our customers Free of Charge, along with the most extensive range of high quality feed inputs available.
For more information or for an in depth consultation contact Richard Webster.