SUMMARY SUMMARY ANALYSIS… 2 DETAILLED ANALYSIS… 3 TESTIMONY… 5DEATH OF OUR FOUNDER… 6

Potential Gains: What is it and why use it?

Potential Gain

DAIRY PRODUCTION AND COMPONENTS

FEEDING

REPLACEMENT

REPRODUCTION

UDDER HEALTH

QUOTA MANAGEMENT

LABOUR EFFICIENCY

In order to stay competitive within Canada, our farms need to conti-nually work to find ways to be more efficient and profitable. The challenges vary from one farm to the next, and there are no univer-sal remedies.

Valacta created the Potential Gains tool to help you find the ideal possibilities for technical

and economic improvements on your farm.

More specifically, Potential Gains is an online application that is directly associated with your farm’s technico-economic data as expressed in dollars. At first, this allows your Valacta advisor to show you the potential gains for seven major sectors of your business (summary analysis). Later, each of the sectors can be analyzed in detail (detailed analysis).

In this edition of Dairy Knowledge, we will dig deeper into the Potential Gains tool, so that you may better understand how to analyze the information presented and what the estimate of your potential gains is based on.

Testimony

“I was really surprised to see how much could potentially be gained in some sectors”

- René Guimond, Dairy Producer, Ferme Barond Inc., Parisville, QC

On page 5

Dairy Knowledge at your fingertips

Spring 2014 • Vol. 9, No 1

1Summary AnalysisYour advisor will use the summary analysis graph to show you your Potential Gains. This histogram provides an overall view and will provide you with a comparison between seven sectors of your business. This graph is mainly used at the beginning of the process, to evaluate your initial situation.

Analyses…

Your farms tech-nico-economic parameters are expressed as a monetary value. The scale will vary from one farm to the next, according to possible gains. For example, the extent of the gains will be larger for a herd with 200 cows than for one with 60 cows.

For each of the sec-tors, the bar can rise to the total potential gains value for that sector, but could be divided in three distinct sections, according to the percentile rank.

The tool will calculate your potential gains accor-ding to the situation observed at the time of each milk test. The data presented in the graph is a reflection of the last twelve months.

The three levels of comparison will allow you to see where your farm stands from among all of the Quebec farms that use milk recording. This way, you can easily visualize the potential gains if you improve your per-formance in each sector at the 50th, 75th or 90th percentile.

Your potential gains calculation can be made on the basis of a « number of cows constant » or « quota constant ». Your advisor will choose the « number of cows constant » option when additional quota is available, because a rapid increase in pro-duction will increase demand on the quota. The « quota constant » option will be selec-ted when the quantity of quota is restricted. The calculations will simulate cow sales to maintain stable quota production.

2After the summary analysis, you can dig deeper into your analysis and see what is hiding behind your potential gains for each of the individual sectors.

Why are there bars missing on my summary analysis graph? Although most of the data used to calculate potential gains comes from your milk recording data, in some cases the data comes from another source and some action will be required on your part.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE MISSING A SECTOR:

Labour Efficiency: In order to calculate your potential gains for this sector, you must first complete the Efficiency Express option with your Valacta technician or advi-sor. This will require about 15 minutes of your time and will make you aware of your time spent on labour in minutes per cow per day.

Feeding and Feed Margin:This data is only available for Valued-Advice clients who have a feeding pro-gram with their Valacta advisor.

Quota Management: The data related to your quota comes to us directly from the Fédération des producteurs de lait. In order for Valacta to have access to this data, you must first sign an authorization form. Talk to your Valacta technician.

Detailed Analysis

Displays the precise value for the herd as well as the reference value that corresponds to the chosen strata (percentile) for each of the indicators.

You can set your own objective for each indicator and the potential gains calculation will adjust as a result. The proposed approach is to stick to one or two objec-tives at a time and move on to something else once your objectives have been reached. The objectives are entered into the system.

The total gains available for the sector are displayed here according to your chosen objectives. On the last line you will see the total gain from the sector according to the percentile chosen and if objectives have been set, the total is also calculated.

The evolution of the indicators used to calculate potential gains in each of the sectors can be monitored over time with the help of the indicator dials. The red marker indicates the starting point and the blue pointer indicates the objective. The needle points to the farm’s current result.

What indicators are used to calculate your potential gains?

Sector Indicators

Production and Components • Milk production at 305 days • Milk fat at 305 days • Protein at 305 daysFeeding • Cost of Concentrates / hl Replacement • Age at 1st calving • Cull rateReproduction • Calving Interval • Length of Dry PeriodUdder Health • Herd average SCC (in terms of lost production and premiums)Quota Management • Kg fat over quota • Kg fat- not reportable • Additional days of production allowed • Kg of protein delivered above maximum SNF/F ratio • Kg of LOS delivered above maximum SNF/F ratio

We add up the monetary losses when: – There are over-quota deliveries – There is under produced quota – Additional days are not produced. – There are over-ratio SNG deliveries for protein and LOS.

Labour Efficiency • Time per cow per day The time allotted to the dairy herd is compiled in minutes per cow. The calculation takes into account all operations: feeding, milking, animal care, business management. • The hourly rate calculation is made on gross salary and is composed of a mix of remuneration for manual tasks and management tasks and takes into account the average owner/employee ratio.

It is not only the tool, but the process that countsIt is important to remember that what counts most isn’t really the mechanics of the tool, but the process that it proposes; step back and consider your business as a whole, determine the potential for improvement that best fits with your goals, define short term objectives and an action plan to get there, and finally monitor how the situation evolves so that you can readjust the action plan as you go.

Make some headway by playing the right cardsOnce the potential gains analysis is complete, you will be able to prioritize a sector you would like to improve on, according to your values, your interests and your goals. Your advisor can then help you to set your objectives and establish a concrete action plan.

While trying to determine which solutions should be added to your action plan, don’t be surprised if your advisor offers to...play a game of cards! We have developed a Potential Gains card game which provides suggestions to improve one of the seven sectors of your business.

Mr. Guimond has been working with his advisor for some time now to try and come up with solutions that will improve herd’s efficiency and ultimately, make some room in the barn. One of these goals was to increase production.

Using Valacta’s new Potential Gains tool over the course of the summer of 2013 helped him to confirm the need to work on pro-duction and components at Ferme Barond. In fact, the summary analysis (fig. 1) shows a potential for more than $25,000 in this sector.

« I am presently involved with a management club and I like to compare my farm to others to help tar-get the elements that could be improved upon. That being said, I didn’t necessarily expect to see this type of results. I was really surprised to see how much could potentially be gained in some sectors, notably that of production and components » confides Mr. Guimond.

After analyzing the indicators from Potential Gains, Mr. Guimond and his advisor were able to set pre-cise and realistic objectives. « We have drawn up a concrete action plan and we have already begun to put it in place » says Mr. Guimond excitedly.

Testimony

“I was really surprised to see how much could potentially be gained in some sectors”-René Guimond, Dairy Producer, Ferme Barond Inc., Parisville, QC

Farm: Ferme Barond Inc.Number of Cows: 68Lactation: 55 - 60Valacta Team:Jean-Philip Leblanc, DPA and Denis St-Amant, DPT.

FERME BAROND’S OBJECTIVES:

“Within two years: increase produc-tion to 10,800 kg of milk, with a milk fat of 4.00 and protein of 3.32”. The means chosen to reach this objective are mainly related to feeding and the transition period. On a monthly basis, our Valacta advisor and technician monitor the feeding and forages as well as the various tests and measurements (MUN, Ketolab, BCS, etc.)

« Thanks to the indicator dials used in the Potential Gains tool, I can now easily follow my results and track how they evolve; it is really motivating », concludes Mr. Guimond.

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On January 20th, we lost the person who most influenced our company, our founder, Dr. John E. Moxley. The impact of his work goes well beyond milk recording and all who personally knew this great visionary will understand what a huge loss this is.

John Moxley began the Dairy Herd Analysis Service in 1966, which later became PATLQ and more recently Valacta. At the time, he was a profes-sor in Animal Science at Macdonald College of McGill University. He demonstrated a deep interest in both the genetics and nutrition of dairy production. Dr. Moxley participated in setting up computerized milk recor-ding. Even then, he was enough of a visionary to know that such a system would be of great benefit to the dairy producers of Quebec. Its success has never faltered.

At the start, more than 100 producers received individual data for their cows as well as feed recommendations to help them improve their productivity.

Within a year, more than 300 produ-cers were taking advantage of the service and after less than 10 years, milk samples from more than 200,000 cows from Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes were being analyzed. The majority of producers still benefit from this service today.

Dr. Moxley was awarded the Grindley Medal by the Agricultural Institute of Canada for his exceptional contribu-tion the agricultural sector. He was also inducted to the Agricultural Hall of Fame for both Quebec and Canada. The impact of his contribution was very widespread.

WINNERS OF THE DRAWINGS FOR ADVISORY-SERVICE OR PRACTICAL TRAINING AT THE SALON DE L’AGRICULTURE AND THE SALON DE LA MACHINERIE AGRICOLE DU QUÉBEC. Name Farm City/Town Person Responsible

2014 Salon de l’agriculture in Saint-Hyacinthe Benoit Lussier Ferme Germain Lussier Saint-Joachim Richard DubéLaurent Tremblay et Karine Chamberland Ferme Tremco Senc. Val-Joli Sophie Coutu

2014 Salon Industrie et machinerie agricole in Québec Valérie Lemieux Ferme Casault Causapscal Yvan Boudreau

Dr John E. Moxley

SPRING 2014 • VOL. 9, NO 1

Valacta’s Information Report, Dairy Production Centre of Expertise

Death of our founder, John Ellis Moxley

Drafting and Editing: Annik Perron, Communications Manager, Virginie Sos, Communications Specialist and Julie Baillargeon, M.Sc., Agr., Technology Transfer and Research Project Coordinator, R&DCollaborators: René Roy, Agr., Agro-economist and Gervais Bisson, Agr., Strategic Advisor, R& D, Valacta Phone: 1-800-266-5248, 514-459-3030 • Fax: 514-459-3020www.valacta.comE-mail: Dairy Knowledge: info@valacta.com Customer Service: service.clientele@valacta.comLegal Deposit: ISSN 1496-2721 National Library and Archives of Quebec and the National Library of Canada

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