Address on-farm efficiency to improve profits, conference told

Greater knowledge of yield management can increase efficiencies and boost profitability, researchers told farmers at yesterday’s Teagasc Winter Milk conference in Wexford.

Winter milk researcher Joe Patton said: “While each farmer has a number of options, including staying the same, switching to spring milk production, increasing cow numbers, increasing yield per cow, or improving efficiency, economic analysis showed that it is only by addressing on-farm efficiency that profit and cashflow can be improved.

“In relation to the biggest cost of winter milk producing farms — namely feed — we would urge suppliers to take responsibility for on-farm decisions relating to feed by acquiring the necessary knowledge.”