Resources / Dairy / Gross margin per hectare
Dairy · Financial · Margin

Gross margin per hectare

$3,800 / ha

Milk and stock income less the direct, variable costs of producing it, divided by hectares of milking platform. It strips out fixed overheads to show the productivity of the land itself.

Worked example · $ GM/ha · 4-year trend
$3,800 2023 2024 2025 2026
$ GM/ha · 4-year trend
The benchmark

Grazing dairies return a wide range of gross margin per hectare depending on milk price and system; the Dairy Farm Monitor Project benchmarks it regionally.

Dairy Farm Monitor Project ↗
What it signals

Gross margin per hectare is the fairest way to compare seasons and systems: it rewards turning home-grown feed into milk efficiently, rather than simply chasing litres with expensive bought-in feed.

Data required to calculate
Milk & stock revenue$Total variable costs$Milking platform areaha

Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.

How to improve it
01

Lift home-grown feed eaten per hectare — the biggest driver of margin.

02

Hold milk price quality premiums by protecting cell count and components.

03

Control variable costs, especially the bought-in feed conversion to milk.

Questions & answers

What is gross margin per hectare?

Milk and stock income less the direct, variable costs of producing it, divided by hectares of milking platform. It strips out fixed overheads to show the productivity of the land itself.

What data do you need to calculate gross margin per hectare?

You need: Milk & stock revenue ($), Total variable costs ($), Milking platform area (ha). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.

What is a good gross margin per hectare benchmark?

Grazing dairies return a wide range of gross margin per hectare depending on milk price and system; the Dairy Farm Monitor Project benchmarks it regionally.

How do you improve gross margin per hectare?

Lift home-grown feed eaten per hectare — the biggest driver of margin. Hold milk price quality premiums by protecting cell count and components. Control variable costs, especially the bought-in feed conversion to milk.

More dairy guides

All dairy KPIs →

See this KPI live for your own operation.

Connect the software, spreadsheets and records you already keep, and Silo keeps every benchmark on this page current automatically.

Book a demo