Characteristics of forage from the aspect of milk costs | Lopbarības raksturojums piena izmaksu aspektā
2008
Latvietis, J., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Agriculture | Auzins, V., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Agriculture | Strikauska, S., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Agriculture | Eihvalde, I., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Agriculture
The analysis of statistical data proves that the situation in dairy farming in Latvia is starting to stabilize: the tendency for the number of cows to decrease has ceased, which is compensated by the increase in cow productivity. The last five-year data show that milk production stays within 800 000 tons. The milk sales price has reached the average level of the prices in the EU countries, and no significant increase is expected. The problems occur due to milk production costs – they are high and endanger Latvia's competitiveness in the market of the EU and other countries. One of the determinant reasons for the high milk production costs is over-consumption of feed (approx. 13%) and high costs of forage (on average, Ls 300 per cow per year). Over-consumption is caused mainly by the protein deficit which exceeds 10% of the desirable, whereas expensive forage (fodder, additives) explains the high costs of feed. For covering the protein deficit and decreasing the forage costs, most profitable proved to be grass forage which is comparatively most inexpensive and can be utilized both in summer and winter. The research suggests that increase in the amount of grass forage in cow feeding from 63% to 68% would increase the protein content in feed dry matter from 14.6% to 15.7% and would decrease the costs of forage for dairy production by 3 per cent.
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