On-farm efficiency improvements have the potential to result in a £22,000 increase in margin over purchase feed per year, for the average size herd.

That was the welcoming news from Promar's latest Milkminder costed herds report for November which highlighted that this five-figure sum is irrespective of any year on year price fluctuations, that in the past year would have had a positive impact.

“The average herd in the sample of 212 cows had a comparable number of calvings in November 2017 compared to November 2016," said Nigel Davies, Promar's national consultancy manager.

"They also generated an extra 0.9 litres per cow, per day, and reduced concentrate feed use by 7.6 kg per cow over the course of the month.

“When applying the same milk price from 2017 to the relative period in 2016, efficiency alone generated an additional margin of £1800 for the average herd in the month of November.”

He added that although these numbers might not appear to be significant, they can have a real financial impact over the course of 12 months.

“Through an inherent attention to detail and targeted improvement, marginal gains achieved on a daily basis can really add up. It’s important to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves," he added.