Determination of Feed Consumption and Feed Conversion Ratio in Dairy Cattle Farms: A Case Study of Hatay Province

This research was carried out to determine the feed consumption and feed conversion ratio in dairy cattle farms. The data used in the research were gathered from 141 dairy cattle farms in the Hatay province. According to the research results, the average forage crops production area size in the enterprises was 18.13 da, and the share of forage crops cultivation areas in the crop production pattern was determined as 31.07%. The average cattle stock was 11.02 heads, the number of dairy cattle was 4.87 heads, the milk yield per dairy cattle was 5.619 lt/head, and the milk income was calculated as 2.811 US$/head. The roughage consumption of a dairy cattle in the lactation period was 3,139.67 kg, the monetary value of the consumed roughage feed was 371.61 US$, the consumption of concentrated feed and crushed feed was 2958.90 kg, and the monetary value of the consumed concentrated feed was determined as 1118.57 US$. In the research area, the total expense amount was approximately 1.9 million US$. The proportional share of variable costs in the total cost was calculated as 64.26%, and the share of fixed costs was calculated as 35.74%. The proportional share of feed costs in variable costs was 80.56%. The research revealed that 1.90 liters of milk was obtained by the 1 kg of concentrate and crushed feed that was given to a dairy cow in the lactation period. Considering the average of the enterprises; for 100 US$ of feed consumption, the gross production value of dairy cattle was calculated as 236.02 US$, and the milk income was calculated as 195.72 US$. In the study it, was determined that there were statistical differences between the farm size groups in terms of milk yield and the amount of roughage and grain feed consumption. Within the research it was revealed that the feed needs of the enterprises should be provided by their own enterprise in order to achieve higher milk yield and income per animal.