Milk & Fat Valuator
In this era of component pricing, the message to dairies has been clear: Make more components and make less water. However, the devil is in the details as milk flow and pounds of components are inextricably linked. Download the Milk & Fat Valuator to see exactly how shifting pounds of components vs. pounds of milk affects to your bottom line.
The Energy Trade-Off
More often than not, we are aiming for greater components AND milk flow to improve our bottom line. However, unless we are adding more energy ‘on top’ of the current diet, there’s usually a trade-off. The nutritional changes we make to increase components often means energy is redirected from flow or body condition.
The challenge is that changes in milk fat percent are quite easy to measure, while real changes in milk flow are harder to pick up above the ‘noise’ of normal variability on the dairy. Regardless of our challenge with measurement, the biology of shifting energy between flow and components is not negated.
Reference: Dado, R.G., J Dairy Sci. 1993 Jun;76(6):1575-88.