Feed has an enormous impact on your bottom line, the environment, and animal welfare. It is indeed the most significant variable cost on most dairy farms.
Two cows need different amounts of feed to produce the same levels of milk and solids. Some cows are better at turning feed into meat and milk. Others are less feed-efficient, as they use too much feed for maintenance.
With the Saved Feed Index in the Nordic Total Merit Index (NTM), you can find out how efficient a cow is at turning feed into milk.
The Saved Feed Index considers two components to measure feed efficiency:
- Maintenance measures how much energy a cow uses due to her body size. Heavier cows use more energy than smaller ones to maintain the same production level.
- Metabolic efficiency measures how efficiently the cow converts feed energy in her body. This is energy used, for instance, to support milk production.
