Resources / Dairy / Stocking rate
Dairy · Land & pasture · Grazing

Stocking rate

1.9 cows/ha

The number of milkers carried per hectare of the milking platform across the year — the long-run grazing pressure that must be matched to the pasture the platform actually grows.

Worked example · Cows/ha across the season
Jul Jun
Cows/ha across the season
The benchmark

Subtropical grazing dairies commonly run 1.5–3.0 cows/ha on the milking platform, lifting with irrigation and bought-in feed.

Subtropical Dairy ↗
What it signals

Push stocking rate above what the platform grows and you buy in feed to fill the gap, eroding margin; sit too low and you leave pasture — and milk — on the table. It is the central lever balancing home-grown feed against bought-in.

Data required to calculate
Cows on the platformheadMilking 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

Match stocking rate to measured pasture growth, not just last year’s number.

02

Lift home-grown feed with fertiliser, forage cropping and grazing management.

03

Use a feed budget to decide when to buy in versus de-stock.

Questions & answers

What is stocking rate?

The number of milkers carried per hectare of the milking platform across the year — the long-run grazing pressure that must be matched to the pasture the platform actually grows.

What data do you need to calculate stocking rate?

You need: Cows on the platform (head), 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 stocking rate benchmark?

Subtropical grazing dairies commonly run 1.5–3.0 cows/ha on the milking platform, lifting with irrigation and bought-in feed.

How do you improve stocking rate?

Match stocking rate to measured pasture growth, not just last year’s number. Lift home-grown feed with fertiliser, forage cropping and grazing management. Use a feed budget to decide when to buy in versus de-stock.

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