Dairy Farmers- Measure to Manage
April 29, 2020
Zara Morrison, CAFRE Dairy Adviser, Coleraine
Dairy farmers are currently facing a difficult time due to the coronavirus pandemic. With an increase in meal prices and milk price dropping, monitoring the cost of production has never been more important. A simple way of monitoring production costs is to calculate the herd’s margin after deducting monthly feed costs (purchased concentrate) from monthly milk sales. This is known as dairy margin over concentrate (DMOC).
DMOC can be found in DAERA online services within the CAFRE Benchmarking option. Using this simple DMOC recording system allows you to measure performance on a monthly basis and enables you to manage the herd going forward. It can help to make decisions on necessary changes, recognise trends, plan for the future and compare your farm against others.
To get started, at the end of each month gather the following pieces of information for that month:
1. Numbers of cows in milk and dry cows.
2. Total concentrates fed to dairy cows and cost per tonne.
3. Milk production (litres sold and litres fed to calves).
4. Milk quality.
5. Milk value (less transport).
Next you need to login to DAERA Online Services through the Government Gateway (this can be done on any internet enabled device) and select CAFRE Benchmarking followed by Dairy Margin Over Concentrate from the list of options available. View video clip for more information on how to access DMOC:
The results can provide your own DMOC (£/cow/day) and also provide milk yield (litres/cow/day), milk from forage (litres/cow/day), concentrate fed per litre (kg/litre), concentrate cost per litre (p/litre) and concentrate fed per cow per day (kg/cow/day).
A comparison table includes every dairy business, anonymously, that has submitted information and you will be able to view the top performing herds along with the average. Your own business will be highlighted and ranked within the table. This will allow you to compare with others and as part of a Business Development Group (BDG) your adviser will be able to compare your group separately.
Ring your local CAFRE Dairy Adviser to discuss how DMOC can assist you to measure and manage your dairy business through this difficult time.