Economic & Farm Benefits of Using POSILAC 1 STEP^®

Key Points:

The benefit of POSILAC is its ability to increase milk production significantly and, in doing so, to lower farm fixed costs over units of milk produced. As with all production-enhancing management practices, the objective of using POSILAC is to provide increased profitability to the dairy producer. Maximum economic response is obtained by following the use instructions described in “POSILAC - Milk Production and Management.” Basically, beginning supplementation of ALL healthy cows beginning in the ninth or tenth week of lactation and providing constant availability of a ration designed to support the increased level of production will result in maximum economic response. The concept is so simple that virtually all producers can use POSILAC to increase the profitability of their herds. POSILAC can help raise the profitability of cows as their lactation progresses. Research has shown that, by following proper use instructions, milk production can increase from 5 to 15 lb/cow/day. The economic benefit of using POSILAC can be calculated by merely subtracting the additional incremental costs associated with using POSILAC from the incremental income. Since use of POSILAC requires no capital investment, all fixed costs of producing milk remain unchanged. Only the variable costs and returns need to be evaluated. To calculate the daily return per cow with POSILAC, multiply the extra pounds of milk produced each day times the mail box price of milk. Subtract the extra costs of producing that amount of milk: the daily cost of POSILAC (price per unit/14) plus the cost of the extra feed required. Refer to Table 1 for some examples.

Table 1 Economic benefit of POSILAC bovine somatotropin

Profit/herd/year using POSILAC

Incremental cost/profit per cwt for milk produced with POSILAC

The actual increased profits enjoyed by individual dairy producers will depend on their mail box milk price, the price of POSILAC, feed costs, and the actual response to POSILAC achieved on their farm. Another example of how POSILAC bovine somatotropin provides economic benefit is its use in extending the lactation of cows that would otherwise be culled due to inability to breed or other health or age reasons. The economic benefit in this case depends on factors that are highly variable from farm to farm, and relate to the level of daily production required to break even. Generally speaking, each additional day that a cow is kept in the production string rather than culled can mean an extra $5.00 or more in income. Thus, keeping the cow in production an extra 30 to 100 days provides a significant, positive economic impact. POSILAC can also be used to decrease the number of cows necessary to produce the same amount of milk. This provides additional income from the sale of cull cows, lowers feed costs, and is of particular benefit in areas of the country where per cow facility costs are relatively high. POSILAC may be a particularly valuable management tool for the dairyman who has too high a density of cows for his facility. Since no capital expenditures are required to incorporate POSILAC into a producer’s dairy management regime, the benefits are equally available to producers regardless of size or location. POSILAC can provide economic advantages to virtually all dairy producers.