Land is now the limiting factor on most livestock farms especially on dairy farms as milk quotas have disappeared.  Maximising profit per Ha is a good financial KPI to aim for.  Physically there is a high correlation between grass/forage used per Ha and profit.  So much so, that Irish research work has repeatedly shown that for every extra 1T DM of forage used (not just grown) it is worth £150/Ha extra profit.  This amount varies depending on sale price of milk and cattle and the livestock enterprise.

How Do I Calculate This?
There is a simple spreadsheet calculator at http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/moorepark/
It is a good leveller to compare vs any livestock farmer.  It takes into account milk quality, weight of livestock, age of animal, as well as different feeds imported onto farm.
6T DM/Ha  = Average
8T DM/Ha  = Good
10T DM/Ha = Excellent
The very best can use 12-14T DM/Ha. That means that there could be £60k profit between an average and an excellent livestock farmer in profit terms on a 100ha livestock farm!
How much do you use?

Contact Gerard at gerardfinnan@fcgagric.com for help in assessing how efficient you are at converting forage into profit.