Feeding Strategies for Profitable Dairy Farming

The dairy cattle should remain healthy, reproduce at specified interval and produce
milk with acceptable quality according to their maximum genetic potential with least input
expenditure for profitable dairy farming. The main day to day input in dairy cattle production
is feed which is closely linked to production, reproduction and health status of dairy cattle.
About 60 to 70% of the total recurring expenditure in a dairy farming is incurred towards
feeding of animals. Therefore, there is lot of scope to maximize profit through manipulating
the rations offered to dairy animals.
However, the efficiency of milk production from dairy animals is affected by several
factors including genetic potential of the animal, management practices, environment etc. For
example, high yielding dairy animals use proportionately less energy for maintenance and
more energy for productive purposes. Therefore, despite higher feed costs, better feeding of
high yielders produce more milk and generate more income.There are several other critical
issues related to balanced ration formulation, feeding and the lactation cycle of dairy animals
which should be considered while formulating and feeding dairy animals in order to achieve
maximum profit.

Promote feeding of balanced ration according to the requirements

Provide an abundant supply of clean drinking water at all times

Include green fodders in the ration

Use least cost home-made concentrate as for as possible to reduce cost of production
Replace costly concentrates with green fodders to reduce cost of production
Cultivate appropriate varieties of green fodder suited to local environment
Harvest green fodders at appropriate stage to optimize yield and nutritive value
Practice feeding strategies that enhance microbial protein supply to dairy animals
Feed bypass protein rich concentrate feed
Adopt simple roughage processing methods for efficient utilization
Chaffing of roughages
Thick stemmed roughages, both dry and green fodders, should be chaffed and fed to
dairy animals to avoid wastage.
Urea treatment of paddy straw
Take appropriate precautions while dealing with feeds and fodders

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Presence of inherent anti-nutritional or toxic factors in feeds and fodders
Presence of toxins due to fungus infestation in feeds and fodders
Presence of adulterants in feeds
Feeding of urea through concentrate mixture to dairy animals
Practice appropriate feeding strategies during late pregnancy and early lactation to maximize
peak yield