Stochastic simulation of the cost of home-produced feeds for ruminant livestock systems

Abstract

SUMMARYAn agro-economic simulation model was developed to facilitate comparison of the impact of management, market and biological factors on the cost of providing ruminant livestock with feed grown on the farm (home produced feed). Unpredictable year-to-year variation in crop yields and input prices were identified as quantifiable measures of risk affecting feed cost. Stochastic analysis was used to study the impact of yield and input price risk on the variability of feed cost for eight feeds grown in Ireland over a 10-year period. Intensively grazed perennial ryegrass was found to be the lowest cost feed in the current analysis (mean cost E74/1000 Unité Fourragère Viande (UFV)). Yield risk was identified as the greatest single factor affecting feed cost variability. At mean prices and yields, purchased rolled barley was found to be 3% less costly than home-produced spring-sown barley. However, home-produced spring barley was marginally less risky than purchased barley (coefficient of variation (CV) 0·063 v. 0·064). Feed crops incurring the greatest proportion of fixed costs and area-dependent variable costs, including bunker grass silage, were the most sensitive to yield fluctuations. The most energy inputintensive feed crops, such as grass silage, both baled and bunker ensiled, were deemed most susceptible to input price fluctuations. Maize silage was the most risky feed crop (CV 0·195), with potential to be both the cheapest and the most expensive conserved feed.

Comparison of organoleptic quality and composition of beef from suckler bulls from different production systems

“…In Ireland, the cost of conserved grass is frequently lower than that of alternative feedstuffs while grazed grass is the cheapest feedstuff available to producers (Finneran et al, 2011). The inclusion of a conserved grass and/or a grazing period prior to slaughter is desirable from a cost of production perspective.…”

Using post-grazing sward height to impose dietary restrictions of varying duration in early lactation: its effects on spring-calving dairy cow production

“…Dairy production systems that efficiently convert pasture into milk, through maximising grass utilisation, are most profitable, as grazed grass can supply nutrients to dairy cows at a lower cost than alternative feeds in cool temperate regions (Finneran et al, 2012). The greatest opportunities to increase the contribution of grazed grass to the dairy cow diet exist in early spring and late autumn; however, spring grass growth can be extremely variable resulting in deficits in grass supply (McCarthy et al, 2012).…”

Reducing in vitro rumen methanogenesis for two contrasting diets using a series of inclusion rates of different additives

“…For other compounds such as HMA, Cole and McCroskey (1975) suggested that the level of concentrate supplementation could affect their efficacy as methane inhibitors. The implications of these differences for practical farming systems could be important in countries such as Ireland where grassland is the dominant (~0.9) crop on agricultural land and provides the lowest-cost feed available for ruminant production systems (O'Riordan and O'Kiely 1996;Finneran et al 2012). Concentrate feeds (with grass silage) are fed when livestock are accommodated indoors and these feeds can also constitute a major proportion of the lifetime feeding costs of ruminants (O'Riordan and O'Kiely 1996).…”