Rob Bailey, President

Some individuals use price per ton, price per bag, or cost of mineral as their basis to evaluate expenses. Many companies attempt to justify their costs claiming 'higher quality" or even implying "secret ingredients". Competitive con-sultants that sell these products may not know that vitamins come from a few major companies with outstanding quality control, or even the fact that there are no secrets, much less "magic ingredients"!

Some consultants emphasize cost as the bot-tom line, influencing dairymen to be more con-cerned about 3 to 5 cents of mineral per cow per day ($70/month) than hundreds of dollars of overfed protein. Many times these people lack the technology or ambition to supply specific feeding recommendations.

Cost is defined as 'the amount spent in produc-ing or manufacturing a commodity' and "the amount paid'. Cost, therefore, is relative to production, herd health, and services received over a long term basis. Differences of $100 to $200 of monthly feed expenses may be small when the prospect of gain could be worth $1000 to $2000!

We have started many high producing herds that previously were on good feeding programs. However, these customers realize improved herd health and increased production, earning them a greater profit. A 60 cow herd that in-creases 2,500 pounds of milk per cow a year, returns an additional $16,000! These herds reduce their feed costs to produce 100 pounds of milk. At higher production levels, the added cost to produce 10 more pounds of milk is about 25 cents. This milk is worth about $1.10!

As commodities and other feed ingredients be-come more expensive, accurate ration programs become more important than ever! I feel you will be able to make a logical buying decision once you have an ANC ration run for your herd!