Livestock Matters - Spring 2019

Livestock Matters Spring 2019 Dairy farmers can now benchmark themselves against the top five percent of farms following an update to AHDB Dairy’s key performance indicators (KPIs.) The addition of this new category to the existing bands for the top 25% and industry average farms enables farmers to see how they compare with others and identify areas for improvement. The KPIs have also been refreshed using the latest available data and include changes to the definitions and calculations following discussions with farmers and industry consultants. Launched in 2017, the KPIs form part of AHDB’s optimal dairy systems programme, which is encouraging farmers to focus on either all year round or block calving. There are six physical KPIs for each calving system and three financial measures, which are applicable to both. Farmers can attend meetings at one of AHDB’s seven strategic dairy farms, which as well as covering key topics relevant to each system, openly share the farm’s figures against the KPIs to help understand what can be achieved. A full set of definitions along with guidance about how to calculate each measure can be found on their website – dairy.ahdb.org.uk – alongside an online calculator where farmers can enter their own figures to see how they compare. XLVets News New targets for the top dairy farms 04 All year round calving KPIs: • Pregnancy rate (%) • Age at first calving (months) • Total purchased feed costs (ppl) • Average daily lifetime yield (litres/day) • Overheads (excluding rent and finance) (ppl) • Genetic merit Block calving KPIs: • Cows & heifers calved within the first 6 weeks (%) • Herd replacement rate (%) • Milk solids output per hectare (kg MS/ha) • Milk yield from forage (litres) and (solids) • Overheads (excluding rent and finance) (ppl) • Genetic merit Financial KPIs: • Full economic costs of production (ppl) • Return on tenants–type capital (%) • Full economic net margin (ppl) XLVets at shows and events In February, XLVets was one of 290 exhibitors at Dairy–Tech, the relatively new business–focussed dairy event organised by the RABDF and held at Stoneleigh Park. Visitors to the XLVets stand had the opportunity to find out more about the range of FarmSkills courses being run, discuss any animal health queries they had, or just enjoy catching up informally with their vet. This year, XLVets will also be attending North Sheep, near Settle on 5th June, Beef Expo at Kendal on 23rd May, UK Dairy Day in Telford on 11th September, and AgriScot in Edinburgh on 20th November.