Feeding Pastures for Profit

Feeding Pastures for Profit (FPFP) helps to improve the profit of dairy farm businesses by using more home-grown pasture and efficient use of supplements.

Program aims

The FPFP program aims to provide participants with the underpinning knowledge, skills and practical tools to better manage their pastures and make two major profit driving decisions:

How much area do I allocate to the herd to directly graze today?
What amount of supplement do I need to offer the herd to be feeding ‘in the profit zone’?

These are the daily decisions that generally have greatest impact on farm profit.

How the program works

The FPFP program outline is as follows:

Day 1: Managing pasture and crops to optimise per hectare efficiency and feed consumption
Day 2: Managing cow efficiency and integrating pastures and supplements profitably
The on-farm days re-enforce these concepts as they apply throughout the season
The individual farm visit aims to support application of the concepts taking into account the resources and constraints of individual farms

Benefits of FPFP

Participants from previous programs have reported that FPFP has helped them to:

Develop confidence to change the rotation before feed runs out or gets away from them
Better use the potential from nitrogen fertilisers
Manage the spring surplus better
Simplify pasture management instruction to workers and relief milkers.

FPFP is a 12-month program, starting with two theory days and five on-farm days throughout the year to help participants apply in practise the principals of profitable feeding. This includes a one off one-on-one consultation to support pasture rotation decisions utilising the Rotation Right Tool.

Dairy farmers looking to find out more about FPFP should contact their local Dairy Australia regional team.