27 Apr How probiotics worked to increase this dairy farmer’s yield
Daryl and Trudi Hammond run a large dairy farm milking around 450 to 500 cows daily. Located at Buln Buln, just out of Warragul in West Gippsland Victoria, the farm has been in Trudi Hammond’s family for more than 50 years.
Open to new ideas, they’re always looking out for how they can become more efficient. Their goals are to make their farming enterprise more profitable, make their life a little easier, and look after their animals.
Keeping their herd healthy is a big priority, so they were interested in trying out Opti-Gut, Biolink’s microbial-based fertilisers and animal probiotics.
The Opti-Gut Trial
Having used Biolink’s Soil Drench and Bio-Hum in their fertiliser program, the Hammonds decided to trial Biolink’s Opti-Gut pelletised probiotic supplement on 300 of their dairy cows.
- The cow’s grain feed was supplemented with Opti-Gut at the recommended rate of 30 grams per cow per day for 11 days.
- Milk yields were then carefully monitored and compared to previous yields.
The Probiotic Trial Results
- Within ten days, the Hammonds measured a significant increase in milk yield of 5 litres per cow.
- Despite his increase, they also noted a 1.5kg decrease in the amount of grain eaten by each cow per day.
- The combined results of increased yield and feed efficiency are estimated to increase the farm’s profitability with a net increase in daily income of $688.50 per day. This amounts to a monthly increase in profitability of $20,655.
Darryl is pleased with the result of supplementing his herd’s feed with Opti-Gut.
“I believe Opti-Gut is having a positive impact on the cows’ digestive health. The proof is in the manure – and they’re looking healthy!”
“I’d like to continue measuring the impact it’s having on production. But in the meantime, I’ve started giving it to all my calves to help support their early development.”
Reducing fertiliser costs with microbial-based fertiliser additive
Darryl has also recently started using Biolink’s Bio-Hum probiotic fertiliser additive alongside his conventional NPK fertiliser. At about $20 per hectare, Bio-Hum is a cost-effective way of boosting pasture growth.
Due to the wetter-than-usual weather patterns, the growth of his pasture had suffered last year. But according to Darryl, a few of the locals have commented on how good his pasture is looking.
“I’ve managed to cut my conventional fertiliser inputs down, and I’m still getting the result I need. It’s all a matter of trying things out and seeing how things work. I always say that there’s no silver bullet, but so far, I’m happy with how the pasture growth is going with these new inputs.”
Introducing Opti-Gut probiotic supplement as part of your daily feeding regime not only keeps your cows and calves healthy. It helps boost production efficiencies by increasing your yield while decreasing feed inputs. That means a more profitable, sustainable farm.
Talk to Kev or Graham about how Opti-Gut could help keep your dairy cows healthy.