Scope to increase profitability in many areas are within a dairy farmer’s control
A major cause of low profitability is poor grass quality, resulting in higher concentrate costs and/or low milk yields. Sometimes this may be due to poor soils, but more frequently, grassland management and lack of reseeding.
Unfortunately, when farmers are under pressure, some of their cost-cutting results in problems such as disease or inadequate nutrition. We still have many farmers under feeding cows at critical times, using too little fertiliser, and too few farmers participating in milk recording, or breeding from dairy AI. There is no scope for waste, and every cost has to be examined. Cutting back on some costs will reduce profits.
