FEED is the single biggest cost for most dairy businesses – so any persistent causes of wasted feed can be hugely damaging to their bottom line.

With that in mind, Alltech is launching a new pilot study to assess the total level of feed waste on-farm, and start gathering evidence towards strategies that might reduce it.

“There are multiple areas where feed waste can occur, starting within the field, during storage and feeding out, through to metabolic and environmental aspects when fed to the cow,” explained Alltech retail programmes manager Ian Leach.

“While through our understanding of some of the core areas we can estimate that on average 25 to 45% of feed is not being converted into yield, it isn’t something that’s currently closely monitored or managed on-farm,” he added – whihc is why the pilot study on a range of UK dairy farms has been instigated to assess the true scale of the issue. The study will hone-in on the four key areas of opportunity where feed waste can occur, measuring a variety of different critical control points at each stage.

“We’ll be working alongside silage and grassland experts to monitor loses occurring within in the field and forage clamps, as well as looking for potential inefficiencies during feeding-out,” said Mr Leach, who said that rumen losses will form a key part of the on-farm assessment, while the environment, cow health and fertility are also vital parameters.

“It’s estimated that over 25% of the feed consumed is not utilised by the cow for production, and this figure would be significantly higher if the cow was suffering from a metabolic disease or illness. The assessment will look at the general environment including space to access feed and water, ambient temperate, ventilation and light, and key health and fertility parameters will also be recorded.”

With increasing market volatility and rising feed costs challenging farm profitability, it was vital that farm businesses look to realise the full potential of feed, and that had to start by benchmarking current utilisation, then implementing a successful waste reduction plan.

The pilot study will be undertaken on a range of dairy farms varying in size and system, with the results released in February 2019 at Dairy Tech.