The Financial Indicators of TMR Monitoring on Dairy Farms in Hungary, as Part of Quality Assurance Tools

Abstract

The TMR (total mixed ration) technology is one of the most sufficient feeding methods on the dairy farms. From a quality assurance and technological point of view, regular TMR testing is of paramount importance to reduce the risk and extent of milk production losses and animal health problems. The goal was to find out how popular the TMR monitoring in Hungary is, and find out, how much it may cost for a dairy farm in a year. In the course of our investigations, we assessed the economic indicators of TMR samples received by the NIR Forage Laboratory of Livestock Performance Testing Ltd. between 2013 and 2021, especially the distribution and size of costs per farm and per cow. Our aim was to be able to draw conclusions about the application rates, the total and relative costs of TMR analyses according to the farm size. The proportion of farms requesting TMR examinations was higher for farms with a larger number of animals (501-1000 cows inspected). Within the category, the highest TMR sample submission rate was found for the farms with 501-600 and 801-1000 cows inspected. The average monthly total TMR laboratory cost per site was extremely low in the period of 2013-2021 (HUF 3,000-10,000 /month/farm) compared to the risk and potential loss. The relative TMR cost of farms with more than 701 cows inspected was rather low (HUF 6-9 / inspected cow / month) in terms of screening for technological errors, risk of loss and quality assurance. This indicates that there is great potential for quality assurance in TMR studies at sites and that this potential is not currently being exploited.