HOME-MIXING DAIRY FEEDS - A cost-saving

strategyby

Lovemore R. Mutetwa; Animal Nutritionist Veterinary Distributors (Pvt) Ltd, Email:

nutri@veterinarydistributors.co.zw Cell: +263 774586536

INTRODUCTION  FEED INGREDIENTS FOR DAIRY FEEDS  QUALITY CONTROL OF DAIRY FEEDS   APPROACHES TO HOME-MIXING DAIRY

FEEDS

CONCLUSION & QUESTIONS / DISCUSSION

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

Feed constitutes 60 – 80 % of the cost of dairy production

About 60% of dairy producers rely on bought-in feed from stockfeed companies

Nutrition impacts every part of milk production chain

Financial losses in a dairy herd (90-dy post calving) due to poor nutrition are:

◦ Loss in milk production - 32%◦ Added vet costs - 13%◦ Calf loss - 13%◦ Added breeding costs - 11%◦ Replacement costs - 31%

[Source: J. of Dairy Sci. 1993]

INTRODUCTION

Commodity prices of feed ingredients increased much faster than the prices of milk, etc squeezing production margins

Due to the shrinkage in profit margins, an increasing number of producers are moving towards compounding their own feed on the farm.

The dairy farmer needs basic technical knowledge of the feed ingredients and an understanding of basic feed formulation techniques

INTRODUCTION

Existing / future storage capacities

Transport of feed ingredients bought

Additional labour costs

Interest paid on stock held

Equipment and machinery

Technical skills

Cost savings to feed bill of 20 – 30%

Whither or whether TO HOME MIX?....

FEED INGREDIENTS (1)

Cereal grains / Energy Processed by-products

Maize / Corn Snap corn Barley Oats Small grains

Maize bran / germ Hominy chop / DFR Ginned cotton seed Sunflower cake Wheat feed Brewers’ grains - masese Molasses Citrus pulp Acid oil

By-products = cheaper

FEED INGREDIENTS (2)

Roughages

OILCAKES / PROTEINS

Cotton cake / meal Sunflower cake / meal Soya cake / meal Full-

fat

FEED ADITIIVES:

Limestone flour Monocalcium phosphate Coarse salt Urea Dairy / Dry Cow premix Dairy Macropacks

ROUGHAGE / FIBRE

Silage Veld hay Wheat / barley straw Maize stover / husklage Corn and Cob Lucerne / alfalfa Grass pastures Bagasse Forage sorghum / Bana Cotton hulls / morts Crop residues (g/nuts .

Coffee shells) Green maize chop, etc

FEED INGREDIENTS (3)

SPECIAL-PURPOSE INGREDINETS

Buffers (anionic salts) Potassium carb/chloride

(heat stress) Mycotoxin binder /

deactivators Rumen modifiers

(ionophores ) Protected fats Yeasts Flavourants / Palatants

NON-CONVENTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Acid oil Poultry manure Copra Meal (coconut

expeller meal) Under-grade wheat grain/

flour Stack-burnt maize / Maize

reject Maputi waste Bakery waste Acacia pods Velvet beans, etc

Reasons for quality testing / checks

Parameters for quality assessment of feed : - Anti-nutritional factors (free-gossypol),

- Mould, - Drug / pesticide residues, - Salmonella, - Rancidity, - ADF – digestibility and NDF – intake , etc- Milk Urea Nitrogen

FEED QUALITY CONTROL

Dairy Feed Concentrates Dairy Macro-packs or Maxi-packs Total home-mixing TMR

APPROACHES TO HOME-MIXING FEEDS

Simplest level – partial home mixing

Concentrates are feeds concentrated in a particular nutrient, mainly protein

Conc is diluted with maize, snap corn, roughage or other cereal grains

Example: 40% Dairy Feed Concentrate 1part to 3 ½ parts maize crush to get a 20% Dairy Meal

DAIRY CONCENTRATE FEEDS

Dairy maxi- pack or macro-pack

Contains monocalcium phosphate, limestone flour, salt, amino acids, a mineral-vitamin premix and feed additives.

Maxipacks range 25 – 55 kg

Targeted farmers with their own maize, cotton seed cake and wheat bran

DAIRY MACROPACKS

Raw Materials   Dairy 15 Dairy 19       Maize kg 800 700Cotton cake kg 145 150Soya cake 47% kg   100Limestone kg    Dairy Macro pack kg 47 47TOTAL kg 992 997       NUTRIENTS             By-Pass Protein g/kg 62 76ME Ruminant MJ/kg 12 12Fibre g/kg 38 40Calcium g/kg 10 10Mg, Na, S g/kg 2 2

DAIRY MACROPACKS RECIPES

Dairy producer sources all the feed ingredients

Feed formulation programme for least-costing.

Restricted to medium-scale and large-scale operators

High technical skills needed

TOTAL HOME MIXING

Total home-mixed recipe

Milking ration Cotton O/C - 350 Maize bran - 250 Maputi - 250 Chicken litter (L) - 100 Soyabean meal - 50 LSF - 12 Salt - 9 Urea - 5 MCP - 6 Dairy premix - 4

Nutrient analysis (%)

DM - 87 CP - 18.8 Fibre 13 Ca - 1.2 Salt - 0.7

A TMR is a mixture of maize silage, dairy feed concentrates and roughage  

High-roughage or wagon mixers easily available

Mixing a ration involves the following stages: Weigh the pre- ground feed ingredients, Put the bulk ingredients portions (roughages) Blend them thoroughly, Put ingredients added in smaller quantities Blend the whole mixture

TOTAL MIXED RATIONS (TMR)

TMRs – Rye Grass-based

Feed about 50kg/h/dy Feed about 40kg/h/dy

Low Milkers (<20L)

Silage - 28% Rye grass - 28% 18% Dairy meal – 34% Hominy chop - 5% Rhodes hay - 3% Molasses - 2%

Top milkers (>30L)

Silage - 33%

Rye grass - 33% 16% Dairy Meal - 25% Rhodes hay- 8% Molasses -

1%

TMR Masese-based

Ingredients kg/MT

Cotton cake- 270 Maize bran - 230 Maize crush- 170 Brewers’ grain -

150 Molasses -

150 Macropack - 32 Total mix

1002

Nutrients analysis

CP - 18 %Energy met. - 11.5 MJ/kgFibre - 17%

Despite challenges that may exist with home mixing; economic pressures of low margins and escalating feed costs make feed ingredient management a priority and home mixing dairy feeds can indeed help in cost saving and restoring viability.

CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION

THANK YOU!!!!