Dairy Farm Economics: Milk Yield, Feed Cost per Litre & Herd Replacement
Read the herd structure, chart a lactation curve, price milk by fat and protein, cost the ration per litre, track income over feed cost, value heifer rearing, cull cows and calves, and find the cost of production and break-even milk price: 8 graded labs on a fictional family dairy farm.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A dairy farm economics course that works through a year on one fictional family dairy farm, Hollowbrook Dairy, in a spreadsheet, for dairy farmers, farm advisers, agricultural students and agri-bankers. You split the herd into its groups and check the milking cow share against lactation length and calving interval, turn test-day yields into a 305-day lactation and chart the lactation curve, price milk from its fat and protein components, cost the ration ingredient by ingredient and per litre of milk, track income over feed cost per cow per day and flag the months below target, cost a heifer from birth to first calving and measure the replacement rate, value cull cow and calf sales, and find the cost of production per litre and the break-even milk price, with a chart of the cost structure. Illustrative prices and yields. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Herd Structure & the Milking Cow ShareFree
- Milk Yield per Cow & the Lactation Curve (Chart) Pro
- Milk Price from Fat & Protein Components Pro
- Feed Cost per Cow per Day & per Litre Pro
- Income Over Feed Cost (IOFC) & a Target Check Pro
- Herd Replacement Rate & Heifer Rearing Cost Pro
- Cull Cow & Calf Revenue Pro
- Cost of Production per Litre & Break-even Milk Price (Chart) Pro