AnS 434 Dairy Systems Management

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AnS 434Dairy Systems Management
Dr. Howard Tyler
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Topics Covered

• Industry Issues
• Breeding/Genetics
• Feeds and Feeding
• Reproduction
• Lactation
• Housing
• Cow Comfort
• Management Systems
• Integrates all disciplines

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Student Resources

• Textbook
• Powerpoint slides
• Covers book material plus additional info
• Instructor access
• htyler_at_iastate.edu
• [phone] (office)
• [phone] (home)

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Approach to Class

• Manage the cows well to manage the business
  profitably
• Profit income - expense
• Sources of income?
• Sources of expense?
• All decisions are based on economics
• The challenge is to decide what factors to
  include in the economic model

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Economic Relationship Between Milk Yield and
Profit Within A Herd
Within any particular feeding program, higher
producing cows tend to be more profitable,
although feed efficiency will also affect
profitability rankings, especially if there are
multiple breeds within a herd
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Economic Impact of Increasing Feed Costs to
Increase Milk Yield
Milk
You can always alter a feeding program to get
more milk from cows, but more milk doesnt
always translate into more profit
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Relating Rolling Herd Average and Profitability
Across Herds
Rolling Herd Average
Profit per 100 cows
Herds with higher herd averages are not
necessarily more profitable
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Why is this important?

• Herd managers with higher herd averages are not
  necessarily better managers
• In addition, managers that are strong in one area
  are not necessarily strong in other areas milk
  production, reproduction, health programs, calf
  management, heifer management, and transition
  cow management all have different skill sets
  they overlap, but they are different
• Profit does not usually come from maximizing
  animal performance, but from balancing
  performance and cost (optimal performance)
• Can carry this same philosophy over to ALL
  management practices and hopefully we will
• Maximal heifer growth rates are not necessarily
  optimal
• Zero risk vaccination program not necessarily
  optimal

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Culling and Profit Another Recurring Theme

• Involuntary vs. voluntary culling
• Involuntary is culling for problems
• Four major reasons?
• Voluntary is culling for profit
• Improves rolling herd average
• Removal of lower producers
• Improves cash income
• Sales of good cows (milk or show)
• What is a lactation worth?
• Heifer sales
• What does it cost to raise a heifer?

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Economic Relationship Between Milk Yield and
Profit Within A Herd
Within any particular feeding program, higher
producing cows tend to be more profitable,
although feed efficiency will also affect
profitability rankings, especially if there are
multiple breeds within a herd
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Culling, Milk Yield and Profit
By culling the least profitable cows, the
remaining cows will shift in terms of their
relation to the herd average (because the
production average goes up), but their
profitability stays the same, so that overall
herd profitability is increased.