More milk from less feed

June 5th 2009 | By Prof David Beever

Over several years now, Keenan have been seeing major improvements in cow performance and milk output on farms that have followed the Keenan system.

Looking at 800 dairy herds in UK and France, Professor David Colman (President International Association of Agricultural Economists) found that Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCE) was a major driver of margin. His research showed that within 12 months, average FCE across all farms in the study was improved by 15 per cent, with some farms showing more than a 25 per cent gain.

So what does all of this mean to you and your cows?

On average the daily DM intake of a dairy cow is 20kg. At an FCE of 1.15 litre milk/kg feed DM (the UK average), that’s going to be 23 litres milk at 4 per cent fat and 3.3 per cent protein.

By raising the FCE to 1.3 litres/kg, that’s going to mean 26 litres milk for the same feed, which put simply means an extra 3 litres at no extra feed cost.

There’s plenty of proof that such gains are possible; in France the average for almost 300 farms was an extra 2.5 litres milk/cow/day but most interestingly from 1kg less feed DM/cow/day.

The results for UK farms showed an average gain in FCE within 12 months worth almost an extra £100 per cow per year.

Keenan have found that getting the physical structure of the ration right is what really matters. A well mixed ration with the correct amount bulk density, resistance to deformation and functionality, gives better rumen function, with better mixing of rumen contents, better bouts of rumination, with cows chewing their cud (ruminating) for as long as 10 hours per day, and more control of rumen acid levels.

Keenan have also developed PACE (Performance Acceleration and Control Enhancement) to ensure consistent well-mixed rations according to the number and class of stock being fed are provided each time.