Feed Efficiency Opportunities with 2008 Feed Cost

With the milk to feed ratio at 2.36 in February, 2008, dairy managers must carefully reviewing feed inputs relative to milk yield. A milk to feed ratio under 3 is a signal to reduce feed inputs. Feed efficiency (also referred to as milk performance efficiency and dairy efficiency) can be defined as pounds of 3.5%FCM (fat corrected milk) produced per pound of dry matter (DM) consumed. Monitoring feed efficiency (FE) in the dairy industry has not been used as a common benchmark for monitoring profitability and evaluating dry matter intake relative to milk yield. The focus on optimizing feed efficiency reflects as cows consume more feed, digestive efficiency decreases and milk production is subject to diminishing returns. The “traditional focus” was that as cows consume more feed to support higher milk production, the proportion of digested nutrients captured as milk is proportionally higher.