Managing information overload at the dairy

Today’s technology provides the opportunity to collect a lot of data related to crops, cows and financials. The problem is a human element is still needed to monitor and evaluate the information. Determining the key metrics important to the producer or manager is essential for detecting and correcting problems earlier versus later.

Production Perspective

Producers who consistently grow high quality crops and maintain an adequate inventory of feeds pay attention to soil and plant health. Seed selection based on criteria that match the area’s growing conditions is important. Similar to feeding cows, plants need the proper nutrients and environment to remain healthy. Routine soil testing and frequent observation of fields to detect potential insect or weed problems are good management practices to implement. Keeping record of weather events and planting and harvesting dates can be useful in assessing how crops are performing and if any changes should be made in the future.

Once forages have been stored, frequent nutrient analyses is recommended to determine if problems exist in the ensiling process or with quality. Key metrics could include checking the volatile fatty acid profile, fiber and starch digestibility (if appropriate), fiber and starch levels (if appropriate) or other criteria that is considered important.

It can be daunting when reports are printed with the large volume of information related to the dairy herd and then trying to make sense of it all. No one can be an expert in all areas of animal husbandry so selecting data that are sensitive to key performance metrics is helpful. Some examples are monitoring average milk production using bulk tank weights and cow numbers; checking the milk coop’s website routinely for milk fat, milk protein, milk urea nitrogen, and milk quality. Pregnancy rate, days in milk and average age at first calving are barometers related to reproduction.

Tracking feed intake for the herd or by pen and connecting that information with animal performance can help determine some possible issues. Monitoring treatments and health events is useful especially if a spike occurs in a particular group of animals or during a particular season.

Since time is a producer’s greatest enemy, finding the metrics that are the most meaningful and that are a priority will more likely get evaluated and used. Having historical information about the herd also helps to illustrate what is normal and abnormal; that can be the most beneficial aspect of data collection for detecting and correcting problems.

Financials can be the easiest to monitor, however some initial work is needed upfront to get that elusive breakeven cost of production number. Income over feed cost per cow is a very simple metric to monitor monthly. Comparing this number to the breakeven number will offer insights on how changes in management practices are causing positive or negative responses. With the other production related data analyzed it should make finding bottlenecks easier.

Dairy farming is a constantly moving target. It is unrealistic to expect that what is being practiced today or this year will have the same result tomorrow or next year. There are many external and internal factors that affect crops, cows and the cash flow. The successful producers are the ones that are monitoring the herd dynamics routinely and are making decisions based on facts and re-evaluating if anything needs adjusted. Production and finances are intertwined and only by constant monitoring with data that is most relevant to the user will an operation succeed, even during the down turns of the milk market.

Action plan for monitoring key metrics associated with crop and cow production and finances.

Goals

Determine key metrics for crop production, cow performance and financial assessment that will be monitored on a regular basis.

Steps

Step 1: Evaluate the cropping program and determine the specific information that will be useful in producing high quality forage and provide adequate quantity to feed the entire herd.
Step 2: Evaluate the dairy herd and determine the specific information that will be useful in maintaining goals set for cow numbers and average milk production needed to generate adequate milk income.
Step 3: Determine the herd’s breakeven cost of production and monitor income over feed cost on a monthly basis.
Step 4: Meet with farm employees every two weeks to review results related to the cropping program, cow management, and how income over feed cost is being affected.

Economic perspective

Monitoring must include an economic component to determine if a management strategy is working or not. For the lactating cows income over feed costs is a good way to check that feed costs are in line for the level of milk production. Starting with July’s milk price, income over feed costs was calculated using average intake and production for the last six years from the Penn State dairy herd. The ration contained 63% forage consisting of corn silage, haylage and hay. The concentrate portion included corn grain, candy meal, sugar, canola meal, roasted soybeans, Optigen (Alltech product) and a mineral vitamin mix. All market prices were used.

Also included are the feed costs for dry cows, springing heifers, pregnant heifers and growing heifers. The rations reflect what has been fed to these animal groups at the Penn State dairy herd. All market prices were used.