A recently published study demonstrated that reducing feed costs by purchasing lower-cost commodities did not translate to more money in the bank. The feeding study, conducted in California, compared two feeding regimens. The first was the control diet, where the added protein source was provided by canola meal. For the test feeding regimen, approximately two-thirds of the canola meal was removed from the ration, and low-fat distillers dried grain (DDG) was substituted.
IOFC is a commonly used metric that is often used to determine if feeding changes or changes in feed management should remain permanent. On the surface it appears to be relatively easy to calculate – simply subtract feed costs from income. The importance of this trial is how IOFC is determined. There are many variables when it comes to evaluating the milking string. This study points out that the results obtained from computations can easily be misleading but also provides some practical solutions to improve the accuracy of the IOFC calculation.
