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Farmgate milk price has fallen much faster and to a much greater extent than meal price, and that means dairy farmers should re-evaluate their feeding systems over the coming months, independent dairy consultant Jason McMinn has said.
Speaking at an AgriSearch event on Monday, McMinn said that the current milk to feed price ratio suggests farmers should not be feeding more concentrate in order to increase milk output.
“We should not be pushing on – the signal clearly is to be trying to maximise your forage intakes,” he maintained.
With local dairy companies warning of further price reductions, despite already taking around 14p/l off prices this year, it means the value of 1,000 litres of milk could dip well below the cost of 1t of concentrate.
However, most industry analysts see a ratio of 1.2:1 as the threshold necessary to encourage farmers to feed more to stimulate output. At current meal prices, that requires milk prices to get back into the low to mid 40s.
“The ratio needs to be well over one to push on for milk,” suggested McMinn, who added that once weather conditions improve, farmers should try to get more cows out, maximise grass intakes, and generally make sure the lowest-yielding cows are not being overfed.
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