Harpers Feeds is offering dairy farmers in the South West of England a new tool to manage milk production costs.
The tool highlights the financial implications of producing specific milk volumes and qualities, relative to individual production costs, with consideration of milk buyer and contract.
Milk price cuts are compounding the lack of demand for ‘B’ or ‘C’ litres, says Richard Waters at Harpers. “This requires a new level of cost management. The new model enables each farm to calculate when their milk is going to be produced and to what value. It works out break-even costs and implements a ‘minimum litre threshold’ for cows.”
If farmers can’t send the volume of milk they desire, they need to major on milk quality to improve their returns, be it components, bactoscan or cell counts, he adds. “It has never been so critical to know the cost of producing a litre, and how that is broken down. The tool provides clarity on individual business needs, coupled with the ability to manage cows in and out of the system and provide an early warning of times of challenge.”
