Nutrition Management

Integrate home-grown and bought-in feeds into your herds diets. Optimise cow productivity, health and feed conversion efficiency.

Please note – the links below are pdfs, they may take a few seconds to open.

Plan for profit: feed budgeting	Develop a monthly feed budget, allow for waste
Nutritional values of common feeds	Look up tables
Nutritional values - fibre sources	Alternative fibre options when forage is limited
Coping with fodder shortage	Options & strategies to close the fodder gap

Feed lab testing	Collect feed samples for analysis
Feed labs servicing the dairy industry	List of labs & links to websites
Rapid feed lab testing	RAPID feed analysis pilot service in Victoria
Understand feed lab results	Turn feed lab results into action on your farm

Feed conversion efficiency	Measuring against targets, improvement strategies
Feed wastage - overview	Trade offs, ways to reduce, payback calculations
Feed wastage - study	Summary report on study of 50 farms
Ruminal acidosis - risk assessment	Understand & assess the risks
Ruminal acidosis - quick checks	Is rumen stable?
Ruminal acidosis control	Use of feed additives to help control
Ruminal acidosis management	Review for vets & nutritionists
Transition cow management	Review for nutritionists, vets and farm advisers
Transition cow management	Farm checklist
Heat stress	Impacts on cow production, fertility, health & welfare
Summer nutrition strategies	Drinking water
Summer nutrition strategies	Fibre, starch, protein, minerals & buffers

Formulating diets	High production diet guidelines
Mixing & delivering feed to herd	Options, different mixer wagons, the human factor
Nutrition models - review	For nutritionists, 11 computer-based models
Nutrition models - how they work	Technical details for 11 models

Feed Report tool
Understand feed lab results, turn them into actions on your farm.
Pasture Consumption & Feed Conversion Efficiency Calculator
Calculate 2 key performance measures for your farm - your feed consumption/hectare & annual milking herd feed conversion efficiency.
MISTRO Feed Budget
Looking for a feed budgeting tool? Consider MISTRO.

Action Generator
Identify actions you can take on your own farm to improve your heat stress management.
Cost Benefit Calculator
Estimate the likely return on investment and payback period for a new cooling infrastructure item on your farm.
Weather forecaster - active 1 October to 31 March
Monitor the daily heat stress risk level in your local area and adjust your cooling strategies to suit.
Heat Stress Alert Service - active 1 October to 31 March
Subscribe to receive e-mail alerts of potential 'meltdown' events forecast for your area.
Weather History - active 1 April to 28 February
Look back at the impacts of heat stress on your herd's milk production and reproductive performance.