Diet feeders can seem big money, but feed costs are bigger. Fact. Having a diet feeder in good working condition and fit-for-purpose undoubtedly impacts on feed cost per litre and per kilo of weight gain. To help keep tabs on your feed efficiency, here are some signs to look out for.

“There’s usually an extra litre of milk or extra DLWG to be had from servicing or upgrading a machine if it needs it.”

These are wise words from Michael French who has been in the business of making diet feeders make money for farmers for 31 years.

The reason Michael has been in the game for so long is that he especially likes to sell a diet feeder if he knows that it can make a positive financial impact.

Here’s how diet feeders are so influential on the bottom line of farm businesses:

• It’s well documented that on every beef and dairy farm, feed costs account for upwards of sixty percent of total variable cost inputs. The physical presentation of a ration was proven some years ago by the late Professor David E Beever to influence the pH of the rumen and the subsequent ability for a cow to turn feed eaten, into milk or meat output.

• Nutrition is also hugely influential on cow health and longevity. CowSignals® have quoted that one in three cows don’t make it to five lactations due to causes such as lameness, milk fever, mastitis and acidosis. And with numerous research bodies citing the clear link between metabolism and immunity, the physical structure of a ration plays a key role in resisting and recovering from challenge

SIGN 1: YOU ARE OVERLOADING YOUR MACHINE

Michael estimates that sixty percent of machines in the field are overloaded. That simply means putting in more feed than the machine can effectively handle. It is understandable that farmers overload to save precious time and labour. However, the cost can be huge – it can be anything in the region of one and four litres per cow per day.

There’s no hard and fast rule for how many cows can be fed in each load. A higher-yielding herd will likely be on more feed than a lower yielding herd, for example.

• In a paddle diet feeder, it’s perhaps easier to see as the feed doesn’t have space to tumble in the chamber. 
• In a tub diet feeder, it’s not easy to see, but the results are still as crucial. Some tub manufacturers extend capacity with greedy boards around the top, but they don’t put in bigger augers, meaning the mix cannot be as good.

In any case, overloading is mainly signalled by the mix that comes from it.

SIGN 2: THE PHYSICAL PRESENTATION OF YOUR RATION IS NOT RIGHT

This is quite a quick and easy one to check out as soon as the ration is fed-out.

• You’re looking for a ration that looks the same all the way up the feed passage or from trough to trough. You don’t want to see any straights that haven’t been incorporated properly.
• You’re also looking for each handful to have the incorporation of some nice fibrous matter cut to a length of five centimetres* (Source: University of Wisconsin). This physically effective ‘neutral detergent fibre (peNDF)’ is important in achieving ‘scratch factor’ in the rumen. Some diet feeders can overprocess a ration very quickly which then impacts on this and FCE (see sign 4).

*Aim for shorter fibres if feeding smaller animals (young cows or sheep, for example). 

Do this on the daily or at least on the weekly as things can change quite quickly.

SIGN 3: YOUR COWS ARE SORTING THE RATION

As we all know, it’s really ALL about the cow signals! Even if the signs are subtle and require a trained eye to spot, cows will always tell you if they’re content (and therefore productive) or not. 

• Walk the feed passage an hour after feeding-out to see if cows are actively sorting through the ration. If they are, they’ll be ferreting for the ‘sweeties’ and avoiding the dry matter. You’ll also see lots of holes burrowed in the ration.
• Before feeding your next load, observe what is leftover. If cows are sorting, there will be five percent or more of the ration leftover, and it will visibly comprise of more fibrous dry matter (i.e. long bits of straw).
• When walking the cows, listen out also for the sound of dung dropping to the ground with an ideal ‘pat-pat-pat’ sound. Kick over a few dung pats to check for any undigested fibres. Also take careful note of any swishing tails or cow that are neither eating, drinking, bulling or laying down.

This could mean that your cows are faced with a suboptimal rumen environment, sub-acute acidosis, or worse, acute acidosis. With acidosis, the precursor to many health challenges - mastitis, lameness, fertility - this is probably the most important aspect to tune into.

SIGN 4: FEED EFFICIENCY IS BELOW YOUR FCE / FCR TARGET

Now this is one of the most eye-opening signs. It’s ultimately going to validate whether you’re making money from the most vital cost on farm - feed!

Similarly to cows, data doesn’t lie. Data can either give you reassurance or an alert. Target FCE / FCR is dependent on a number of factors. In any case, close monitoring is a must.

Here’s how you can quickly and simply work out feed conversion efficiency (FCE) for dairy, or feed conversion ratio (FCR) for beef:

• Take your average daily milk yield or daily liveweight gain and divide it by your average dry matter fed.

The InTouch Dairy Efficiency League Table for June 2024 showed an FCE variance of 0.61. The lowest performer was making 1.11 litres of milk for every kilo of dry matter, whereas the highest was making 1.78 litres of milk for every kilo of matter. Feed cost per litre difference.

The margin between those two is about £2.50 per cow per day, across 100 cows that’s £250 a day or £7,000 per month. This is a huge impact on feed cost per litre - the higher the FCE, the lower your feed cost per litre. JUST THE SAME AS MORE MILES TO THE GALLON!

SIGN 5: YOUR DIET FEEDER IS TIRED AND STRUGGLING

A quick assessment of your diet feeder will soon tell you whether it’s in need of some therapy or replacing. Even small issues can make a big impact on the ration.

• The belly – is it wearing thinning and/or flexing?
• The knives and blades – are they all fixed in position and sharp?
• The liners, seals and paddle rubbers – are they all intact and unworn?

With these assessed, we now need to contemplate a repair vs replace. This will depend on the extent of the wear, along with the size of the machine being adequate for the number of cows currently and planned (i.e. if expansion is planned).

What to do if you spot any of these signs

The most important thing is that you don’t do nothing! Not taking it further is like not going to the doctors when something isn’t right.

·       Service your diet feeder, using the KEENAN-Approved service agents.

·       Upsize or upgrade your machine, speaking to the KEENAN regional managers.

·       Add InTouch to your machine, contacting a local InTouch Feeding Specialist.

Not sure what to do? Leave us an enquiry - email:keenaninfo@alltech.com