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Key To Profitable Dairy Production

Key To Profitable Dairy Production

Introduction: Dairy profitability is mostly judged by the amount of milk produced by a cow by consuming per kilogram of feed dry matter. Day by day feed resources are reducing which have affected our animal productivity. Farmers concern is how to increase milk production with limited feed resources and how to feed their animal balanced diet which can help in reducing death rate and culling rate in herd for increased profitability with volatile milk prices. Death loss is major driver affecting dairy profits. Mostly profits increase, once cow gets to fourth and fifth lactation. It is highly inefficient to replace cow in third lactation with a heifer because profits increase only in dairy from cows in fourth lactation and beyond .In second lactation only half of rearing cost of cow is returnable. If involuntarily older animal is culled in first 60 days of lactation, even dry cow costs cannot be recovered. Dairy owner should closely monitor animal performance and act accordingly. In this review, key factors responsible for increasing dairy profit have been discussed.

  1. Feed resources and diet optimization: When farmer is rearing animals on pasture based farming, he should grow all pastures/fodder he can and allow cows to harvest each particle grown to increase operational efficiency, capital efficiency and have  cost control. One should design systems, focus on investments, control cost and leverage carefully. Pasture systems should be designed for persistence, quality and seasonal deficits. Animal needs to be fed low cost but high quality forage (grass-legume mixtures, perennial fodders) consisting of roughages and concentrates. Mineral mixtures and vitamin supplementation is needed to overcome deficiency symptoms due to faulty feeding. Focus should be on fodder supply, cow breed, stocking rate, labour and other facilities availability. Investment should be done on cattle and land only to avoid overcapitalization of the farm. On pasture based-dairy operating expense ratio should be less than 70% to be strong. One needs to assess their situation and then do budgeting. Small targets should be set as these are easily trackable and allow one to make changes if one fails to meet the goal. Dairy farms are usually dependent on biological framework. Challenges are there in cow’s life at every stage. Feeding should be done according to situation at their life stage.

 

  1. Milk Quality and milk prices: Milk composition (Protein and fat %) causes fluctuation in sale prices according to locality and demand. When animals are healthy, somatic cell count is low. It indicates low infection level in herd and healthy milk production. After parturition, if nutrient feeding to dairy animal is done according to increased milk production requirement, it affects both milk quality and animal health. Improper feeding at this stage results in weight loss in animal as milk production peak is attained earlier than dry matter intake peak. Increased milk production dilutes the fixed cost burden. Udder milk production can be increased by taking care during dry period. Care during dry period mainly feeding affects future cow’s performance and health. In this period optimize cow comfort, maintain daily dry matter intake (12.7-14.5Kg), avoid overfeeding, observe hoof health condition and prevent gain in body condition score. Sub-clinical milk fever risk (<8mg deciliters calcium per ml) during first week of lactation should be reduced as it is related with metritis, low feed intake and milk production, ketosis, high somatic cell count and uterine involution problems. After parturition care for the new born and dam by optimal feeding of warm water, grass/alfalfa hay, fresh and mixed rations should be offered. If the cow is not at ease, it leads to infections, lameness, poor production, reproductive problems and even death. Management in animal barn in terms of flooring, sleeping pads stalls, footing, feeding and treatment for ailments needs to be taken care. Dairy cows are kept in fresh cow group for about 14-21 days providing about 30-36 inches space per cow. Try to minimize social stress for first calf heifers. Avoid overstocking and have cooling system for cow. In order to prevent ruminal acidosis in recently parturient animal, providing digestible fibre in their diet through grass/alfalfa hay, maintaining feeding consistently, avoiding diet sorting and monitoring buffer intake is essential for maintaining rumen health. Metabolic problems and other health issues should be paid heed. Cow at calving should have body condition score between 3-3.25.Overweight cows are at higher risk for fatty liver and ketosis. Feed additives supplementations do help in increasing milk production. Rumen –protected choline improves liver functioning, yeast culture and protected aminoacids helps in rumen fermentation stabilization, ionophores are responsible for increasing glucose availability while supplemental protected fat helps in boosting energy intake. Antioxidants like Vitamin E and selenium   help in recovering from oxidative stress which may be result of injury, excess fat mobilization or poor environmental air quality which affects immune functioning. Check for moulds, yeasts and other anti-nutritional factors in feed as these cause digestion upsets. Usually peak in milk production occur 40-60 days after parturition which steadily declines and stops at 10 month period. Then cow is dried off for 60 days.

 

  1. Milk preservation and Value addition: Milk being perishable in nature may cause huge loss to farmer if not properly handled. When milk produced is in abundance, it needs to be processed and converted into milk products in form of milk powder, sweet, peda et which fetch higher price and help in increasing  farmer’s income.

 

  1. Low death losses and lower net herd replacement cost .If mortality rate is 4-5 animal or less per 100 animals in herd, it will not affect much severely the milk production. Unnecessary culling increases the losses in terms of animal and production at farm which needs to be checked for attaining increased milk production.

 

  1. Health problems: Higher the number of pregnant animal in herd, more will be the milk production in future. Pregnancy rate of 18-20% adds to annual profit per cow Fertility peaks at about 60-80 days after calving in cow. If heifer fails to conceive, it results in monetary loss to farmer due to dwindling milk production. Infertility, lameness and mastitis in dairy animal increase farmer’s expenditure on his/her livestock. The factors behind infertility may be metritis, previous pregnancy side-effects, cysts, weakness, poor health condition or uterus infection which require medical attention. Poor feeding ,mainly consisting of high digestible carbohydrates may contribute to persistent infections or leg problem in form of lameness  in animal due to highly acidic condition in rumen making them inefficient producers. Mastitis in dairy animal affects udder and mammary gland health and milk output and can make animal unproductive .It can be easily detected by swelling and redness in infected udder. Pus cells or blood clots may appear in milk. As a result somatic cell count increases with decline in milk production. Mastitis can be treated with use of antibiotics and proper hygiene and sanitation. Regular checkups by skilled veterinarian of lactating, pregnant cows and calves help in reducing cost on medicines in long run and improve quality of output in form of milk.

 

  1. Management issuesAnimal should be provided shelter with proper ventilation to increase longevity and to protect from heat wave, thunderstorms, rain, flood and other unfavorable climatic conditions .Allow the animal to exercise to remain happy and fit. The waste of farm (manure, urine etc) can be used to increase revenue and capital investment.

 

  1. Good heifer survival and developing Improved Calf Rearing RegimesAbout 3-14% calf mortality has been recorded at farms which can be reduced by timely care of calves soon after birth. Colostral immunoglobulins insufficient intake during first six hours of birth is considered major cause of health problems in pre-weaning period. Zinc sulphate turbidity test done on blood sample within one week gives measure of immune functioning and it should be greater than 20mg/litre for optimal  survival and health. Colostrum intake should be about 10-15% of body weight of calf offered in thrice/twice doses per day. Until 8weeks age, calves  also need to be given 500g milk replacer(23% crude protein) per day, along with adlibtum concentrate and water to achieve growth rate of 450-600g/day.  

 

  1. Control and maintenance: Maintenance costs is always proportional to specific number of animal kept on farm but reports indicate that profits are more with huge number of animals. Maintenance and control costs which include animal housing, manure control, milking equipment and employee costs are easier manageable with large number of cows. Know your customers and never provide adulterated milk /substandard product as they trust you.
  1. Record Keeping: As dairying is intense method of animal production, keeping track of individual animal is must. This data helps in creation of realistic budgets when formulating future projects. Production and financial activities record help one to identify the lacunae and find main hurdle in increasing dairy profitability. If records are not maintained one has to rely on memory which may be inaccurate, inadequate and difficult to organize in long run. Computerized record taken daily of cows in estrus, date of calving, feed/fodder/concentrate availability, milk production etc are must for analysis and rapid reference. Records reveal the pros and cons of farm activities and prove helpful when applying for assistance from government agencies in form of loan etc.

Conclusion: Knowledge of veterinary science which is sum of breeding, management, public health and epidemiology, pathology, parasitology, medicine, nutrition, gynecology, statistics, economics etc. is must for operation of successful dairy and increasing profits. Proper planning and its execution help in growth of dairy owner’s business substantially.

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Dr Anshu Rahal* and Dr Ashoka Kumar**

*Associate Professor;**Professor

Department of Animal Nutrition

College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

GBPUAT, Pantnagar-263145. Uttarakhand, India

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