Fine-Tuning the Ration Mixing and Feeding of High Producing Herds

Feed is the single largest operating expense on dairy farms and should be considered one of the most important variables behind successful production, animal health, and profitability of a dairy. Annual feed costs per milking cow can average $1000 to $1200 per year, or $100,000 to $120,000 for every 100 milking cows. Despite this fact, only a minority of dairy farms closely track feed quality variation, feed mixing, inventories, feed bunk delivery, shrink, and corresponding animal performance. The result is lost opportunity to improve cow performance and to better management expenses. Total mixed rations (TMR) have rapidly grown to be the preferred method of feeding for non-grazing herds. Although TMR caught on many years ago, the art and science of how to best manage specific mixers continues to evolve. The questions have largely moved beyond the advantages of a TMR and are now more focused on “How can my TMR mixing and feeding be improved?”