Data from Volac Wilmar Feed Ingredient’s performance to financial correlation model shows that UK dairy farmers are achieving returns on investments of upwards of 88%, when feeding rumen-protected fat supplements.
With the updated milk contract prices for August and September, dairy farmers are seeing an increase in manufacturing and liquid milk contract prices – to help offset the increasing cost of production, says Volac’s business manager and financial model developer Paul Fransen.
“For those on manufacturing contracts at 47ppl, feeding a rumen-protected fat supplement in calcium salt form resulted in a return on investment of 71%, increasing to 78% for contracts set at 50ppl,” explained Mr Fransen.
“Producers on liquid contracts at 47ppl also saw the financial benefit in feeding calcium salt fat supplements with a return of 88%.”
Calcium salts of fatty acids are commonly used in the dairy industry. The products combine fatty acids with calcium ions to produce a rumen-insoluble supplement, as with Volac Wilmar’s calcium salt supplement, Megalac (which has a fatty acid composition of ~48% C16:0 (palmitic) and ~36% cis-9 C18:1 (oleic)).
Volac Wilmar say that their high C16:0 fat supplements hold a place for producers, alongside their Mega-Fat 88 supplement, which gives manufacturing contracts, at 47ppl and 50ppl, a 57% and 65% return on investment (ROI) respectively. Volac data also shows that producers on a liquid contract of 47ppl saw a ROI of 33%.
To determine the ROI, Volac Wilmar’s calculator collates current feed prices and data from two individual meta-analyses, from Dr Adam Lock’s group at Michigan State University. In doing so, Volac can make informed predictions on the expected ROI when considering feed efficiency, milk composition, milk yield and fertility benefits of feeding rumen-protected fat supplements.
To calculate your return on investment for feeding fat supplements in rations, contact Volac Wilmar Feed Ingredients at megalac.com.