Like it or not, almost every dairy herd has seasonal swings in the number of calvings, pregnancies, and milking cows. Sometimes it is intentional, to make best use of pasture or facilities. More often we are backed into it because of breeding problems in hot weather, or avoiding heifers freshening in extreme cold. In conventional barns, we can deal with inconsistent inventory by overcrowding the pen and running the parlor a little longer. In a robot barn, production per cow suffers when the barn is over-crowded, and expensive equipment is underutilized when cow numbers are down. This report helps to anticipate and manage the fluctuation. Your banker might like it too. Contact me to get this report for your farm. I can create if for robots or parlors. It includes these items:
Calving Due – How many cows will calve each month? This section includes the number of cows and heifers expected to calve each month for the next 8 months. It only includes confirmed pregnancies so the count is accurate but it cannot project beyond 8 months.
Cows to Dry – How many cows will dry off each month? The expected dry offs are broken down by month. It goes 8 months, just like the calving due, so the last month is an average of the first 7 months.
Net Increase/Decrease – How many cows are available to be added to the milking herd? The number of dry offs is subtracted from the number of calvings to get this value. Culling is factored in later in the report. Death loss is not factored in.
Total Milking Cows – How many cows can be in the herd? This line adds the Net Increase/Decrease to the previous month’s total milking animals, up to but not exceeding the milking capacity.
Milking Capacity – How many cows can the barn and the system handle? This value reflects the stalls, bunk space, robot capacity, and owner experience. It does not change from month to month unless one of those factors changes.
Projected Culls – How many cows will be available to cull? If the number of available cows exceeds the milking capacity, it is assumed that the excess cows will be culled. It is also assumed that no cows will be culled if the barn is below capacity. These assumptions are not necessarily true because of involuntary culling and death loss. They do reflect the goal of keeping the barn at capacity.
Calves To Be Born – How many calves will be born each month? Are the calves to be born sired by sexed semen, beef semen, or conventional semen? This helps to anticipate the available future replacements. It also helps to anticipate how crowded the calf and heifer facilities will become. Service sires must be recorded in the herd management software.
Heifer Inventory – How many heifers of each age group are on the farm? This is a simple breakdown by age group – 0-6 months; 6-12 months; 12-18 months; 18 months to calving.
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