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Block calving key performance indicators
The key measures of performance for dairy farmers who calve within a 12-week window (spring or autumn), get back in calf, peak in milk production and are dried off together.
Back to: dairy key performance indicators
The KPIs shows targets for excellent, good and average performance based on industry dairy farm data.
Block calving KPIs
| Key Performance Indicators | Performing well (Top 5%) | Room to improve (Top 50%) | Review performance (Bottom 50%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cows and heifers calved within the first 6 weeks (%) | >85% | 85-70% | 70-50% |
| Herd replacement rate (%) | <18-20% | 20-26% | 26-36% |
| Milk solids output per ha (Kg milk solids/hectare) | >1,500kg/ha | 1,500-900kg/ha | 900-300kg/ha |
| Milk yield from forage (litres) and (solids) | >5,000l (427kg) | 4,000l (342kg) | 2,750l (235kg) |
| Overheads (excluding rent and finance) (ppl) | 9ppl | 9-12.5ppl | 12.5-20ppl |
| Genetic merit | 5th percentile | 5-50th percentile | 50th percentile |
Compare your figures using our KPI Express tool
Block calving KPI definitions
| Key Performance Indicators | Why you should do this KPI | Definitions |
|---|---|---|
| Cows and heifers calved within the first 6 weeks (%) | Good fertility to achieve a tight block is key to a profitable block calving herd. A tight calving period can lead to more days in milk. If the target 6 week calving rate is not being reached it is an indicator of issues such as fertility and /or cow management.
|
Number cows and heifers calved in the first 6 weeks from the planned start of calving ÷ Total number cows and heifers due to calve × 100 = 6 Week Calving Rate |
| Solids output per ha (Kg milk solids/hectare) |
This is a calculation based on a combination of yield per cow and stocking rate per hectare. Profitable dairy farming is strongly linked to the amount of grass that is harvested per hectare and together with supplementary feed, how efficiently that grass is converted into milk solids. Milk solids yield per hectare records the amount of milk fat and protein produced per hectare. However this can be limited by the land capability, although knowing the optimum stocking rate for the farm will help optimise the production per hectare without impacting profitability. |
Milk Yield (kg/MS) ÷ Total grazing and silage area used only for milking cows = Milk Solids per ha |
| Milk output from forage (litres) Milk |
Regardless of the farming system quality forage (particularly grazed grass) will always be the cheapest form of feed. The more milk produced from forage the greater the profitability. This is also an indicator of environmental impact. |
Average milk yield per cow - milk produced from non-forage feed = milk from forage. |
| Milk output from forage (Kgs milk solids) |
Milk produced from non-forage feed = kg of non-forage feed fed x 87% standardised dry matter x 12.7MJ standardised ME / energy needed to produce a litre of milk with the butterfat and protein entered. |
|
| Herd replacement rate (%) |
The fewer replacement animals that are needed (through increased cow longevity) means lower costs and higher lifetime productivity can be achieved. This is also an indicator of environmental impact. |
|
| Overheads (excluding rent and finance) | The fewer replacement animals that are needed (through increased cow longevity) means lower costs and higher lifetime productivity can be achieved. This is also an indicator of environmental impact. | Overheads of the herd but excluding the rent and finance |
| Genetic merit* | The performance of a dairy herd is determined by two factors, the management of the herd and the genetics of the herd. Therefore, in order to drive progress and improve their performance through the Optimal Dairy Systems genetics must be a consideration. This is also an indicator of environmental impact. | This is the percentile your average £ACI score (for autumn calving) or £SCI (for spring calving) falls into compared with the average GB milk-recorded herd * |
* Fully milk recording herds can find their genetic merit score through our Herd Genetic Report - details can be found in the above online calculator. For non-milk recording herds, we've created this genetic merit tool so you can work out your percentile.
Block calving strategic farm KPI case studies
Practical examples from our strategic dairy farms who openly share their KPIs so you can see how they perform.
