Analysis compiled by Kingshay Dairy Consultants, in partnership with Dale Farm, highlights a widening efficiency gap between the average and top quartile of dairy farms in NI.

Based on a significant dataset of 136 Dale Farm suppliers, the analysis focused primarily on feed efficiency on-farm over the 12-month period from November 2019 to October 2020.

It is the second year that Dale Farm has offered the free benchmarking service to its suppliers. It aims to help members focus on cost of production by looking at the returns on purchased feed inputs.

Margin over feed

The results show that on the top 25% of farms, the margin over purchased feed (MOPF) averaged £1,749/cow, compared to a MOPF of £1,418/cow on the average farm. At an individual farm level, MOPF ranges from a low of 13.46p/l to a high of 23.58p/l.

MOPF is widely regarded as a strong indicator of feed efficiency, and is also a useful means of keeping track of costs of production, as it can be calculated monthly by deducting the combined cost of purchased forage and concentrate from milk sales.

Differential

The £331/cow difference between the top quartile and the average farm is up £65 from the £266/cow recorded during the previous benchmarking year. While lower milk prices have taken all margins down, the top 25% has reduced by only £17.

For farms in the bottom quartile, the MOPF was £1,062/cow for the 12-month period ending October 2020. That is a drop of £118 on the £1,180/cow margin during the previous year.

Compared to the top quartile farms, the difference in MOPF is £687/cow, or £68,700 for a 100-cow herd.

Top quartile

Closer analysis shows that the top-performing farms are milking cows that give a cost effective yield response from feeding concentrate.

The top 25% averaged 142 cows yielding 8,897l annually at 4.18% butterfat and 3.37% protein.

Those yields are up from 8,458l in the previous year, although concentrate has also increased from 2.46t to 2.8t per cow.

That equates to a feed rate of 0.31kg of concentrate for every litre of milk produced.

Purchased feed costs work out at 7.74p/l. At an average milk price of 27.6p/l paid, this means purchased feed equates to 28% of milk price.

Deducting feed costs from milk price leaves a MOPF of 19.86p/l.

Average farm

The average farm in the Kingshay analysis operates 123 cows yielding 7,601l per annum, up from 7,521l during the previous year.

Milk quality was 4.14% butterfat and 3.34% protein, resulting in a milk price of 26.92p/l, which is 0.68p/l lower than the price received by the top 25% of farms.

An average of 2.5t of concentrate was fed per cow, just 300kg less than the herds in the top 25%, yet yields were 1,296l lower.

As a result, feed rates on the average farm work out higher, at 0.32kg of concentrate per litre.

Bottom quartile

Herds in the bottom quartile are not getting a good yield response from the concentrate being fed. They averaged 95 cows yielding 6,305l from 2.3t of concentrate.

Purchased feed costs come to 9.08p/l. With milk price averaging 26.25p/l, it leaves a MOPF of 17.17p/l.

There could be a number of reasons for the lower response to concentrate feeding, including poorer fertility, resulting in farmers milking on at stale cows.

But a lot of the difference can also be explained by forage quality, with concentrate being used to fill a deficit created by poor grassland management or low-quality silage being fed.