Herd Replacements Equal Big Bucks!

Do you know what your replacement rate is?  The National Average is 25%, therefore a herd of 250 cows has a requirement of 63 heifers per year which means you have 126 heifers on the farm targeted at two years calving.  The average cost to rear a heifer to calve at 2 years is around £1,500 so it is costing the business £94,500 per year which is a substantial drain on cashflow, your carbon footprint and is it sustainable?  Especially as we are experiencing inflated costs and lower milk prices.

60 plus culls leave the farm each year – how many of those were avoidable?

Naturally a cow does not peak until her 7^th or 8^th lactation so if we could reduce the culling rate by 8% then that would save the business £7,500 in replacement costs and improve herd longevity.

How many of your culls leave the farm due to old age?  I expect disease is the main reason so how can we reduce those disease issues which will boost your bank balance and make your cows last longer?

Below are the goals we need to achieve to increase cow life and reduce those rearing costs.

Feed, Water, Light, Air, Space and Rest.  If you give enough of those “6 freedoms of the pasture” your cows will be healthy.  Time management for cows: 6 - 14 -2 -2.  How does a cow use her 24 hours?

• Healthy cows eat 10-12 times a day for 30-45 minutes each. Total eating time is 6 hours.
• Cows like to rest for 14 hours of which around 10 hours are spent ruminating.
• Not more than 2 hours milking time is desirable.

Then there are 2 hours left for social behaviour.

Give the cow the freedom to fill in her own agenda.  Cows are very busy!  Cows only sleep 20 minutes per day.  Do your best to make their lives as easy as possible.  They deserve it, and they will pay you back in productivity.

To learn how the principles of Cow Signals can benefit your herd profitability, contact Mark Yearsley on 07773 027999 or e-mail myearsley@fcgagric.com