Analysis of herds using Kingshay’s dairy costings service for March 2025 show that margin over purchased feed per cow was 26% higher than the same month last year.
Despite a lower than average milk from forage figure of 7.8l/cow, margin over purchased feed per cow was head and shoulders above other years at £263/cow. This was largely due to an average milk price of 45.88ppl, higher milk yields for the time of year at 27.8l/cow, but with average concentrate price of £307/tonne, hovering around the 5-year average.
March 2025 appears to be the 13th consecutive month of significantly lower than average milk from forage, at 7.8l/cow, down 8% from the average. With the favourable spring we’ve been having, it will hopefully be the last, as grazing herds start making the most of spring grass.
Average milk price was 45.86ppl, 17% above the 5-year average, and has been fairly static for 5 months, however in past years April and May is typically where we normally see a dip in milk prices so the high price may not hold due to the spring flush.
Rolling trends for the year ending March 2025 include -
- Concentrate use per cow was up 2.4% compared to last year at 2,903kg/cow.
- Margin over purchased feed per litre was up 18.5% on last year to 31.06 pence.
- Bulk cell counts decreased to 153 (‘000)
- Yields averaged 8,502 litres per cow, only dropping 0.5% compared to the 12 months ending March 2024.
- Milk from forage was down 6.6% compared to the preceding 12 months to 2,463 litres per cow, providing 29% of total yield.
- Purchased feed costs were 11.51ppl, a decrease of 4.8% compared to last year, with concentrate prices of £308/tonne compared to £336/tonne in the previous year.
- Milk price was 11.2% higher than the preceding 12 months at 42.58ppl.
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.