How well you manage cows plays a critical role in how well cows utilize feed. Remember that your focus should revolve around rumen health, energy expenditures and feed utilization. If one of these three areas is out of balance, feed efficiency will suffer.
Minimize stress.
The more energy cows spend fighting to get to the bunk and traveling back and forth from the milking facility leaves that much less energy available for milk production. As a manager you can improve efficiencies by minimizing the number of stressors your cows encounter every day, directing more energy to milk production and further improving feed efficiency.
Account for weather changes.
Under cold-stress conditions, cows spend more energy maintaining body heat and less energy producing milk. Adjust your management strategies to keep cows comfortable during the winter, and maintain rumen health with a highly digestible corn silage variety. Ensure the ration is kept out of the weather to maintain palatability and high dry matter intake (DMI).
Monitor change.
Fluctuations in DMI and production can often be the result of ration or environmental changes. To ensure the ration is promoting optimized DMI and resulting production levels, monitor feed efficiency on a regular basis to identify major changes in feed efficiency trends. This can be done by knowing feeding levels and estimated DMI, as well as average daily milk production.
