CAFRE Dairy Herd
The 180 cow CAFRE Dairy Herd is used to train full and part-time students in practical dairy herd management skills including milking, feeding and health management.
The CAFRE Dairy Herd is also used to demonstrate best management practice and optimum use of new technology to students, dairy farmers, and international trade delegations. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the CAFRE Dairy Herd include:
| Financial: | gross margin in top 25% compared to CAFRE Dairy Benchmarking |
|---|---|
| Health and welfare: | 40,000 litres lifetime milk yield |
| Performance: | 700 kg milk solids per cow per year |
| Performance: | 4,000 litres per cow of milk from forage |
| Sustainability: | greenhouse gas emissions <1.1 kg CO2 equivalent per litre of milk |
| Environmental: | organic nitrogen utilisation efficiency >40% |
Performance against KPI’s is measured through CAFRE Dairy Benchmarking on an annual basis. Monthly rolling margin over concentrate is monitored through the CAFRE MOC application. The latest benchmarking and MOC reports are available to view in PDF format.
The 180 cows are Holstein bred with strong genetic emphasis placed on sire selection to improve milk protein, fertility, health and lifespan traits. Cows calve from September to April and graze from March to November. High quality winter forage is conserved as grass, maize and whole crop wheat silage.
