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Dairy consultant points to income over feed cost as key margin
A dairy consultant suggests “income over feed cost” is the first margin dairy farmers should look at with $6 corn.
Tim Swenson with Compeer Financial tells Brownfield feed inputs are cutting into profitability.
“We definitely need to make sure that feed is at the center of our radar, we need to keep looking at opportunities to incorporate other feedstuffs into our rations.”
But as dairy farmers consider ways to help minimize overall feed costs, he says it’s important to not give up any milk.
“And so it truly is focusing on that income over feed cost. A ration change that results in a decrease in milk can actually leave our dairies with less income to work with to pay all of our other bills if it isn’t done correctly.”
Swenson says the knee-jerk reaction tends to be to just cut costs when feed prices are high, but he encourages dairy farmers to make adjustments that still maximize milk production.
Swenson made these comments during a recent Compeer Financial podcast.
