Cost of rearing dairy heifers

Rearing dairy heifer replacements requires a significant financial investment. Often items that should be included, such as fixed costs, are not considered within the costings. Table 1 lists expenses that are incurred when rearing dairy heifers and gives an indication of the likely cost associated with these expenses. The figures are based on costings taken from the Farm Business Data handbook, Greenmount Campus accounts and benchmarking data from commercial dairy farms throughout Northern Ireland.

Table 1. Costs of rearing dairy heifer replacements to calve down at two years

(1)Assumes a 2 percent mortality allowance
*Fixed costs are taken from benchmarking data and are allocated on a cow equivalent basis. They include machinery repairs and maintenance, property repairs, electricity, rates, phone, contracting, depreciation, labour, finance and miscellaneous.
& Land opportunity cost calculated assuming a charge of £250 per hectare at a stocking rate of 2.25 cow equivalents per hectare.

The figures highlight the fact that rearing heifers is an expensive business when fixed costs and opportunity costs are included in the costs.

The final cost can be affected by many factors. One of the main factors is age at calving. For example, if the age at calving were reduced so that heifers calved at two rather than three years, savings through reduced forage costs and land rental costs of up to £5000 per year for a 100 dairy cow herd are possible. Moving from three to two year calving and using the land and buildings released to carry additional cows has the potential to allow the same dairy farmer to increase profits by up to £10,000 after additional feed costs and quota leasing charges.*

Forage quality also has a major impact on the cost of rearing heifers. Improvements in the quality of grass and silage on offer will allow for reductions in concentrate inputs to be made.

Calf rearing also makes up a significant part of the cost of rearing any heifer. Rearing costs on some farms may be higher due to poorer levels of management which in turn results in delays in weaning and higher veterinary bills.

A successful heifer rearing programme will take account of these factors through setting out clearly defined targets and managing animals to meet those targets.

Heifers can be successfully reared to reach a pre calving weight of 600 KG at two years of age

*Assumes that the farmer rears 30 heifers, operates stocking rate of 2.25 CE per hectare, a land charge of £250 per hectare and uses standards from benchmarking data.