What is the difference between 80 pounds of milk and 80 pounds of milk?

Declining Class III milk futures are causing many of our dairy producer members to evaluate the cost of their rations.  I believe ration adjustments need to be evaluated closely to make sure ingredients that perform stay in these rations.  So how should we evaluate our cost of production and the economic impact that these ration changes make?

I am using MilkPay.com regularly to evaluate cost per cwt. and income over feed cost. MilkPay is a website with and excellent calculator to evaluate the difference in performance from one ration to another.  MilkPay has a very easy to use app for your smartphone. The site is sponsored by Adisseo, who manufactures MetaSmart and Smartamine M synthetic methionine supplements.  We currently handle MetaSmart at Medford Cooperative.

Let’s take 2 rations for 80 pounds of milk production:

At first glance one would think that that ration 2 is too expensive and we need to find a way to cut $.40 to save feed cost.  But what is the true cost to the bottom line in the rations?  I plugged the data into MilkPay on 2/10/15 and these are the results:

Better components always equal better mailbox pay.  But what is surprising is how much economic impact the more expensive ration #2 has to the dairy producer’s bottom line.  The point is that producers need to know their ration costs and how making improvements in the ration can lead to better economic results on their farm.  Please don’t hesitate to ask us how we would use MilkPay to evaluate your herd’s economic situation.  Our success at Medford Cooperative depends on your success as a member owner.

– Animal Nutrition Manager