News December 2019 - January 2020
Improve profit per stall Six key factors that drive profitability per stall include somatic cell count, energy corrected milk, net herd replacement cost, pregnancy rate, heifer survival rate and death loss. In this article, we take a deeper look into death loss. Even with the most painstaking preventative measures in place at your farm, cows die. Certainly, minimizing those losses is a high priority for you. A study done by Zoetis and Compeer Financial found six key drivers of profitability on dairies, of which death loss was among them. In this article we will review how death loss affects profitability and what you should be monitoring. This study showed there are real differences between the most and least profitable herds. The range of death loss in all herds spanned from 4.2 – 5.8 percent in the most profitable herds, to 10 percent in the least profitable herds. The difference in profitability between the top one-third and the bottom one-third equated to $185/ lactating animal. Death is by far the costliest cause of herd removal and is aggravated by the significant loss of a productive asset. Deaths in the first 60 days in milk (DIM) are most expensive as there has been significant cash outlay with minimal revenue return. The most common way to calculate death loss is to divide the number of cows that die, by the average number of cows in the herd (22/541 cows = 4 percent death loss). You can do the math, or death rates can also be tracked in the activity monitor in
PCDART or in “events by days in milk” in DairyComp. If your herd’s annual death loss is above 5 percent in total, or 2 percent in the first 60 DIM, it’s important to know why. In my work I often find that the reasons are not recorded or not precisely known. It’s important that recording these details is a priority so causes can be analyzed. If the cause of death is unclear because it was sudden, or treatment was ineffective consider necropsies. Knowing why animals die is the first step to improving management and preventing more. That said, we know not all deaths on a dairy are avoidable, but high death losses are crippling to profitability and suggest high incidence of disease. Another benefit this study discovered was that herds with lower death losses produced 7.3 pounds more of energy corrected milk (ECM) per day, further solidifying the importance of minimizing and managing losses on your dairy. If you are not recording why cows die, it’s time to start. If you are, make sure
to evaluate the data. Understanding the reasons can help you implement changes that will decrease the occurrences and increase your profitability.
Understand your numbers A 2 percent death loss in the first 60 DIM is achieved by top herds, and a good goal to strive for. If your rate is higher, it's important to look into the reasons why. In PCDART use the "activity monitor" to find this information. This example shows a 4 percent death loss in the first 60 DIM (22 /541 cows = 4 percent). In this herd, there is an opportunity for improvement in this area which can generate more profit. Event
Total
1-29 30-59
FRESH
541
541
0
SOLD
110
13
9
DIED
38
18
4
Julie Ainsworth is the lead Coordinator for dairy production and reproduction records analysis at CentralStar. In this role she uses records analysis to troubleshoot and monitor herd performance, bringing together producers, veterinarians, nutritionists and key farm personnel to better understand issues and opportunities farms face. Julie has over 20 years of experience providing records analysis. She obtained her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and has continued her training by maintaining her Professional Animal Science (PAS) certification. Contact her at julie.ainsworth@mycentralstar.com.
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