Tracking intake is part of the equation
On Tony Brubaker’s Pennsylvania dairy farm, they began dry matter intake tracking 15 years ago. While these numbers were good to know, Brubaker said they didn’t do much with this information until they started to compare these data points with other aspects on the farm, such as milk production. He explained how they now utilize these numbers during a Center for Dairy Excellence podcast.
Brubaker, his brother, Mike, and nephew, Josh, are partners on a 1,300-cow dairy near Mt. Joy, Pa. They initially purchased a feed tracking system to get a handle on how much cows were eating. However, once his nephew came back to the dairy, Josh was able to utilize his skill set to create an interactive spreadsheet in Google Sheets. In addition to dry matter intake, they also input other factors such as pounds of production per cow, feed costs per pound of dry matter, and price per hundredweight of milk.
Dairy was a tight market to begin with, Martin said. Having to turn around and make everything for the consumer side was difficult. We ve never seen such rapid and devastating change as at the beginning of COVID, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spokesperson Shannon Powers said.
Powers added that the industry is witnessing several farmers added in-demand products such as yogurt. The ability to pivot and change directions has been vital for survival. When the pandemic hit, it was a bombshell, Luke Brubaker of Brubaker Farms in Mount Joy said. Schools were a big thing. It took heart out of the industry.”