Cut down your feed costs

Proper feeding in cattle farming is of paramount importance as it has a major impact on the milk yield the cows are able to produce. This is because you will not be able to preserve/boost the performance of your animals unless you match their feed/feed ration perfectly to their needs. Ideally, proper feed management will also have a positive effect on your operating result. However, proper feeding is more than just a key performance indicator of your operation: it also represents a major cost factor. After all, feed costs account for more than 50 % of the direct costs of running a dairy farm.

All the more reason to optimize your feeding process - by enhancing every single aspect of it. The factors to consider go beyond the rations and the duration of the feeding and also include the frequency or the accuracy of the feeding. Serving them as a (digital) tool, our mobile feed management system V-DAIRY Feeder TMR can help the farmer stay on top of their feed costs and keep them down in the long run.

Feed management for controlling and reducing cost

Achieving an efficient feeding process and permanently low feed costs requires the farmer to have full knowledge and control of all relevant data. Feed management systems such as our V-DAIRY Feeder TMR make it possible for the farmer capture and view at a glance all data that is vital to the feeding process. And, it is capable of more than just calculating the feed costs. The system, for instance, makes it a cinch for the user to manage groups of animals and prepare their rations. Feed management truly shines when dealing with the varied feed/nutrient requirements of the different groups of animals, as it dramatically improves the ease and accuracy of ration planning.

More precise planning in this case translates to a preservation of resources - and, ultimately, lower feed costs. One particular strength of the system is its ability to create reports that allow for an easier documentation and evaluation of the feed/feedings by indicating, for instance, feeding times and feeding accuracy. What is more, it lets the farmer establish such vital parameters as income over feed cost (IOFC) or feed conversion efficiency (FCE) for individual groups of animals. This eases the farmer’s daily workload tremendously, especially with regard to controlling and documenting the business on the farm.

Convenience in many areas of the feeding process

By the way, the reports and data charts our feed management system V-DAIRY Feeder TMR is capable of preparing signify more than just a lighter workload for the farmer. Other parties involved in the day-to-day operations of the farm - such as employees, veterinarians or feed consultants - also stand to benefit from the quick and easy way they can gain an overview of the feeding process. Feed consultations, for instance, can often be provided directly on the screen following an inspection of the animals and the feed. Better still, the reports created in the V-DAIRY Feeder TMR and uploaded to the associated Web portal can be shared, providing for a relatively easy way to exchange data with consultants, staff or others. Just another feature that helps conserve resources - in addition to saving time and money - and bears positively on feed costs.

The system offers the user a host of additional advantages such as the ability to access the necessary data from any location: The farmer can, for instance, retrieve the latest feeding reports from anywhere in the world by accessing the Web portal of the V-DAIRY Feeder via a password-protected personal account. This helps the farmer stay on top of the feeding process even while away from the farm. If questions or problems arise, veterinarians or consultants can use this data to provide the farmer with comprehensive advice - even in cases when the farmer cannot be present on the farm.