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Dairy · Financial · Margin

Milk income over feed cost

$8.80 / cow / day

Milk income less the cost of feed — the largest variable cost on a dairy. Expressed per cow per day, it is the fastest read on whether the ration is paying its way.

Worked example · Milk income − feed · per cow/day
$16.80 −$8.00 $8.80 Milk income Feed cost MOFC
Milk income − feed · per cow/day
The benchmark

Milk income over feed cost is the dairy margin lever — the gap between milk income and the single largest cost, tracked in the Dairy Farm Monitor Project.

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What it signals

Feed is where most of the money is made or lost. Watching the gap between milk income and feed cost — rather than the milk price alone — shows whether feeding more grain is actually adding margin.

Data required to calculate
Milk income$Total feed cost$Cows milkingheadDays in perioddays

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 to dilute bought-in grain and fodder.

02

Feed grain to response — stop where the marginal litre stops paying.

03

Protect components and quality premiums to lift income per litre.

Questions & answers

What is milk income over feed cost?

Milk income less the cost of feed — the largest variable cost on a dairy. Expressed per cow per day, it is the fastest read on whether the ration is paying its way.

What data do you need to calculate milk income over feed cost?

You need: Milk income ($), Total feed cost ($), Cows milking (head), Days in period (days). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.

What is a good milk income over feed cost benchmark?

Milk income over feed cost is the dairy margin lever — the gap between milk income and the single largest cost, tracked in the Dairy Farm Monitor Project.

How do you improve milk income over feed cost?

Lift home-grown feed to dilute bought-in grain and fodder. Feed grain to response — stop where the marginal litre stops paying. Protect components and quality premiums to lift income per litre.

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