Optimal Dairy Systems - key performance indicators
To help improve your competitiveness, we have created a clear set of measures and targets so you can benchmark your performance and identify areas for improvement.
The measures are broken down into two areas:
- Enterprise key performance indicators which highlight the six key areas for both all year round (AYR) and block calving systems which are crucial to delivering the financial performance required
- Three key business measures that every business should know, understand and benchmark their performance against.
The measures can be found in the tables below and show what excellent, good and average operators are currently achieving using Dairy industry data from the top 5%, 25% and average performers.
See how your figures compare with our KPI Express tool
All year round calving
| Key Performance Indicators |
Excellent performance | Good performance | Average performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pregnancy rate (%) | >25% | 20% | 14% |
| Age at first calving (months) |
23 months (but not less than 22 months) |
24 months | 27.5 months |
| Total purchased feed costs (pence/litre) |
8,000l -7ppl 10,000l - 7.8ppl 12,000l - 8ppl |
8,000l -7.5ppl 10,000l - 8.5ppl 12,000l - 8.5ppl |
8,000l -8ppl 10,000l - 9ppl 12,000l - 9.5ppl |
| Average daily lifetime yield (litres/day) | >19 litres | 14.5 litres | 12.5 litres |
| Overheads (excluding rent and finance) (ppl) | 9ppl | 10ppl | 12.5ppl |
| Genetic merit | 5th percentile | 25th percentile | 50th pecentile |
Work out your genetic merit if you don't have a herd genetic report
Block calving systems
| Key Performance Indicators | Excellent performance | Good performance | Average performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cows and heifers calved within the first 6 weeks (%) | >90% | 80% | 70% |
| Herd replacement rate (%) | <20% | 22% | 26% |
| Milk solids output per ha (Kg milk solids/hectare) | >1,500kg/ha | 1,250kg/ha | 1,100kg/ha |
| Milk yield from forage (litres) and (solids) | >5,000l (427kg) | 4,000l (342kg) | 2,750l (235kg) |
| Overheads (excluding rent and finance) (ppl) | 9ppl | 10.5ppl | 12.5ppl |
| Genetic merit | 5th percentile | 25th percentile | 50th percentile |
Work out your genetic merit if you don't have a herd genetic report
Generic financial measures
| Key Performance Indicators | Excellent performance | Good performance | Average performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full economic net margin (ppl) | 7ppl | 2ppl | -3ppl |
| Return on tenants capital (%) | >20% | 14% | 3% |
| Full economic costs of production (ppl) | AYR<27.5ppl Block<24ppl |
30ppl | 34.5ppl |
Calculate your figures with our KPI Express tool