USING HHP$ TO ENHANCE YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT Shane Boettcher, key client specialist, Minnesota/Select Sires Cooperative, Inc.
What qualities make a profitable cow? I believe most dairy producers would give similar answers. “We want healthy, high-producing, reproductively efficient cows that last.” Knowing that answer as the goal is just the first step. Next, we must determine how to create that type of cow and hone in on the right traits. Do we want high-producing cows with no concern for low butterfat and protein content? A resounding “no” comes from the dairy farms that I visit. As milk processors continue to increase the price to haul milk, farmers can’t afford to pay for hauling water. We want cows that produce high volumes of fat and protein (solids). We understand what makes a cow reproductively efficient. No matter how you measure it, pregnancy rate, calving interval, days open, or services per conception, we want cows that breed back soon after the voluntary waiting period (VWP) and calve consistently in the same month every year. What about longevity? It takes nearly two lactations for a cow to repay her heifer raising costs, so it’s important to create cows that have the highest return on investment potential. We all want healthy cows but has anyone ever considered how important a healthy cow is to a dairy’s bottom line? Below is a snapshot of the cost of some common illnesses and disorders. The economics related to these illnesses are important to determine your most profitable cow. Consider my example in Figure 2 for two cows using $18/cwt milk and the values from Figure 1. Figure 1
Incidence per Lactation Range
Cost ($) per Case
Culling Risk1 (%)
Displaced Abomasum
3-5% 1, 2, 3, 4, 13
$494 4
26.9
Ketosis
5-4% 1, 3, 4, 13
$117-289 4, 5
32.5
Lameness
10-48% 2, 4, 6, 13
$117-469 4, 7
16.0 2
Mastitis
12-40% 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13
$155-224 4, 8, 9
32.7
Metritis
2-37%
1, 3, 10, 11, 13
$300-358
10, 11
17.1
Retained Placenta
5-15%
1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12
$206-315
4, 12
31.7
Cow 1
Figure 2
Milk Produced
Cow 2
28,434 lbs.
35,651 lbs.
Health Events
None
Retained Placenta - 1 Metritis - 1 Mastitis - 1 Lameness - 1
Revenue
$5,118.12
$5,051.18
Under these conditions, Cow 1 was a more profitable cow even though she produced 7,217 fewer pounds of milk. I don’t consider Cow 2 to be an atypical cow for our herds today and at first glance I would have said that the cow producing 7,217 more pounds of milk would be more profitable, but I had never done the math. Doing so is incredibly compelling and brought to light the economic importance of healthy cows. Take this one step further and focus on one very costly health event - mastitis. Thirty-two percent of U.S. dairy cows experience clinical mastitis. With all the advancements made in milking equipment, prep routine and teat dips, this is still an alarming rate. With the production levels some of our cows are achieving, I’m not confident that any products or technology can thwart this rate. Improvement is going to have to come from within the cow, genetically.
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