COST TO DAIRY FARMER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 51, 9 July 1947, Page 4

COST TO DAIRY FARMER

FEEDING OF CONCENTRATES Some dairy farmers feed limited amounts of cencentrates to their cows ih the first few weeks after calving, claiming that not only do they get increased production at the time of feeding, but also that the benefit is carried on when pastures become sufficient. Further, it is claimed that there is less disease. All this may be true where feeding is otherwise insufficient; but experience at Massey Agricultural College is that concentrates do not give appreciable benefits where the cows are adequately fed on sufficient grass saved by paddocks being shut up over the late autumn and winter, and supplemented by hay and silage. Over and above maintenance needs, a cow requires at least 81b. of balanced meal mixture to produce lib. of butterfat. As such a mixture costs at least 1-Jd per lb., there is little left over for additional costs.

There may be times when it does pay to feed concentrates to the milking herd; for example, when hay and silage is inadequate in both quality and quantity and hay is very expensive to buy. These are abnormal occasions, and it is very much better to aim at providing a sufficiency of home-grown supplements. On winter-milk farms the situation is somewhat different, for winter milk sells at a premium for town supply. The feeding of concentrates may be worthwhile, though it is doubtful whether it compares with autumn-saved grass, hay and silage. However, it may be difficult to spare this autumn feed on town supply farms which usually suffer from overstocking.