Analysis of herds using Kingshay’s dairy costings service are showing bought in feed use has increased by 6% compared to the same month last year as many farmers are having to compensate for poorer quality forage to maintain yield levels.
For February 2025, milk from forage (MFF) was down by 14% to 6.8 litres/cow/day. Feed rates of bought in feeds were higher as herds were fed more purchased feed to keep yields up, as shown by conc. use increasing by 6% that month. Fortunately concentrate prices per tonne were 6% lower at £308/tonne compared to Feb 2024. All purchased feed costs/litre stayed similar at 12.39ppl.
February 2025 milk prices averaged 45.67ppl, an increase of 18% compared to the same month of the previous year where milk prices averaged 38.71ppl, although milk prices are down slightly compared to last month when they were 45.79ppl. This is the first time milk prices have shown any sign of decreasing since Jan 2023.
Overall, margin over purchased feed (MOPF) per cow was 22% higher at £228/cow, mainly due to higher milk prices, compared to £187/cow in Feb 2024.
Other rolling trends for the year ending Feb 2025 include -
- Average herd size increased slightly with 226 cows in herd.
- Yields averaged 8,470 litres per cow, a drop of 1.1% compared to last year.
- Milk from forage decreased by 10.5% to 2,444 litres per cow.
- Cell counts remained low at 154 (‘000).
- Milk price increased to 41.92ppl from 38.66ppl the previous year, an increase of 8.4%.
- Purchased feed costs of 11.57ppl were 4.5% lower compared to last year, with annual concentrate prices averaging £310/tonne compared to £342/tonne the previous year.
- Margin over purchased feed was up 13.1% to £2,571/cow or 30.35 pence per litre.
Click here for the full results.
More in-depth analysis of herds using Kingshay’s costings service can be found in Kingshay’s Dairy Costings Focus Report or call 01458 851555 for more details.
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If you are interested in analysing and comparing your herd’s figures with other similar herds, give us a call on 01458 851555. More details of this simple and easy-to-use service can be found here.