Managing Feed Efficiency: What You Can Control

Introduction

Knowing the forces that shape feed efficiency is only half the story; the next step is using them to your advantage.  As a part of a series discussing feed efficiency for dairy farms, this article explores strategies related to feeding and management that farms can use to influence it.   

In this article, Feed Efficiency specifically refers to energy-corrected milk divided by dry matter intake (ECM/DMI), an on-farm metric to evaluate cows’ conversion of feed into milk. 

Feeding Strategies to Influence Feed Efficiency

If you want to improve feed efficiency on your farm, several feeding strategies can help:

• Improve feed quality to enhance nutrient digestibility. Harvest forages at optimal maturity, properly process corn silage and grains, and maintain good silage hygiene to avoid losses from spoilage or contamination (1, 2). 
• Fine-tune rations for efficiency. Avoid overfeeding nutrients, like protein, that may be wasted. Instead, consider precision tools like supplemental amino acids. Balance sources of starch and protein for synchronized rumen fermentation. Ensure rations support both performance and rumen health (2, 3). 
• Group cows strategically to feed more targeted diets. Avoid underfeeding early-lactation animals or overfeeding those late in lactation. Matching diets to physiological needs helps prevent nutrient waste and improves whole-herd efficiency (4). 
• Minimize feed waste and shrink. While shrink isn’t reflected in ECM/DMI calculations, it’s still lost energy. Lost feed is lost energy that the cow never had the opportunity to use. 

Management Strategies to Influence Feed Efficiency

Improving feed efficiency also requires management that minimizes cows unnecessarily expending energy:

• Prevent health challenges that might decrease milk production, increase feed intakes, or divert energy to the immune system. A smooth transition period, proper mastitis prevention, and early lameness treatment all help reduce unnecessary energy loss (5, 6). 
• Limit environmental stressors. Ensure cows have adequate feed and water access, push up feed regularly, and provide enough bunk and resting space to prevent competition (3, 7). 
• Promote cow comfort. Provide proper cooling, minimize long walking distances, and avoid extended time away from feed and water (1, 8, 9). 
• Optimize reproduction. Avoid extended calving intervals which keep cows in late lactation (the least efficient phase) longer than necessary (10). 
• Ensure proper heifer development. Well-grown heifers are better positioned for efficient lactation.  These cows can divert less feed energy to growth than poorly grown heifers.

Genetic Strategies to Influence Feed Efficiency

Genetic selection provides a long-term path to improved efficiency.  Residual feed intake (RFI) is a relatively new trait that reflects how much a cow eats relative to what is expected for her size, production, and growth.  This trait is included in breeding indexes such as Lifetime Net Merit (NM$) and allows farms to select animals that are more efficient.  Genetic selection should align with your broader herd goals, including health, fertility, and production so that efficiency gains don’t come at the cost of other performance areas. 

Author

 

Katelyn Goldsmith

Dairy Outreach Specialist– In her role as a statewide Dairy Outreach Specialist, Katelyn connects research with practical farm management practices to create educational programming addressing the needs of Wisconsin dairy producers.

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