We do not expect many farmers in this area will be able to take up Fonterra's autumn .50c/kg MS bonus scheme.
Farmers who normally have cows producing between 1.8 – 2.2kg MS/day over November would need to keep cows producing between 1.42 – 1.50kg MSD/cow/day over March/April to qualify for a bonus, given that many dry off late April – early May in order to set their farms up for the next season. Herds producing 1.3kg MS/cow in March will need to milk well into mid-May to qualify for any bonus.
Couple this with the fact that most will be producing their November production from an all-grass diet, the cheapest feed, whereas the cost of autumn feed will be higher with a combination of grass, crop and supplement farming being the typical diet.
The .50c/kg MS bonus on extra production will not go far to pay for extra feed required over the winter if farms go into 1st June with lower average pasture covers due to extending the milking season further into May and dropping cow condition.
Our recommendation is that farmers do their sums carefully to ascertain any profit to be gained from this scheme. Seek assistance, if necessary, before embarking on efforts to increase autumn production.
For herds who performed around 1.7kg MS/cow over spring, a bonus may seem more achievable as autumn production only requires to be around 1.2 – 1.3kg MS. However, many of these herds will already be below 1.3kg MS/cow by the time March arrives and would be better off to set themselves up well for next season to achieve an increase from 1.7 to 1.85kg MS/cow over the peak which will improve overall season production at a much greater profit.
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