We use cookies on our website to track and enhance your user experience. For more information or to update your cookie settings, please refer to our privacy policy.

Accept Decline
Search

Fat supplementation plays a critical role in the overall productivity of dairy cows. When fat levels in the diet are insufficient, energy efficiency is reduced and cows struggle to produce enough milk, leading to a lower return on investment. 

Volac Wilmar’s newly launched Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator 2.0 for Fat Supplements addresses these challenges by accurately determining the optimal fat supplementation for your herd based on your farm data and your milk prices, helping you to make more informed feed decisions.

Refreshed for 2025 and developed based on extensive scientific research from over 65 peer-reviewed studies conducted by industry experts, the Return On Investment Calculator 2.0 for Fat Supplements helps you to discover which fat supplement to feed your cows, how much to feed, and whether it will generate a return on investment.

This handy tool now generates comprehensive insights through 15 selectable graphs, highlighting key metrics such as:

  • Margin 
  • Return on Investment (ROI) 
  • NDF and fatty acid digestibility 
  • Nitrogen management 
  • Feed efficiency

New features also include the option to change the amount of fat supplement per-cow per-day, and also allows you to account for the effect of feeding hydrogenated fatty acids to dairy cows.

In the final installment of our Why Feed Fats series, Volac Wilmar’s Technical Business Manager for Europe, Paul Fransen, explores the new model in detail and discusses how it can help improve profitability on your farm. This episode features a special guest appearance from Volac Wilmar General Manager, Hannes ten Doesschate to close out the series.

In this video, you will learn:

  • What the Volac Wilmar ROI Calculator 2.0 for Fat Supplements is and why it exists.
  • How using the ROI Calculator 2.0 for Fat Supplements can help you determine the optimal fat supplementation for your dairy cows.
  • How the ROI Calculator 2.0 for Fat Supplements provides personalised recommendations for feeding different types of rumen-protected fats, factoring in farm-specific milk prices and feed costs to help achieve financial growth.

Now that the Why Feed Fats series has concluded, you can visit our YouTube channel where the whole series will remain available for you to watch on demand. If you’d like to get in touch to learn more about any of the topics explored in this series, you can contact us here. You can also follow our social media accounts where you can stay up to date with all the latest news and content from the Volac Wilmar team.

Watch the video now, or scroll down to read the full transcript. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON4RvKXcHWc

Transcript 

Hello, I'm Paul Fransen, Technical Business Manager in Europe for Volac International. Today we will talk about the Fat Supplements – Return On Investment Calculator . There is already a model online - this is the first version. We're now developing a second version, which we have actually developed because of questions from dairy farmers and feed consultants. 

In both cases, what's really unique about this program compared to other programs is that it is based on really good research. Not one trial, but it is looking at the results of 65 scientific published peer reviewed papers, and this analysis has been done by the research group of Adam Lock at Michigan State University. What's really nice about the analysis done by this research group, is that it tells us the average effect of feeding different types of rumen-protected fats, being hydrogenated fats, hydrogenated PFAD mainly, fractionated fats; high C16’s. Let's say 85% and up on C16 content and calcium salts such as Megalac, a well-known brand globally.

The nice bit about this research is, it’s not only telling you the average results, but also what will happen with your milk production, feed efficiency, milk fat, etc. if you feed more fat or less fat. What this allows dairy farmers to do is to look on their own farm with their milk price, with their feed costs, and find out “what's going to be the financial benefit on my farm? What's the financial benefit of producing more kilograms of milk or milk fats, or milk protein for example?” We've got a couple of examples; many graphs to choose from. These actually will help dairy farmers and feed advisors to make a good decision if they should be feeding fat at all. Does it make any sense? There are also reasons, for example, at extremely low milk prices where it doesn't make sense to use feed fats, but it also gives you advice for the feed fat; which one is the best to feed on your farm, and how much to feed.

Another interesting way of looking at it is that on a financial basis, there are two financial numbers to look at as a dairy farmer. First of all, do you make a margin? Do you make a profit if you feed fats? For every product that you feed, be it a live yeast or a concentrate or a rumen-protected fat, do I make a margin on it, or more margin when I’m not feeding it? And what would happen if I would feed more? That's your margin per cow per day.

 What's also important is if you're coming into a situation where cash flow is limited on your farm, that you choose investments that bring the highest return for every penny, for every pound, or every dollar or euro you invest. That's called the return on investment. This program does both and will also tell you where the return comes from. Let's say that your cows will produce more milk or more milk fats. What we know from the research is that different rumen-protected fats have different effects on, for example, the fatty acid digestibility. The calcium salts are by far the best in terms of improving fatty acid digestibility. 

We also know that this content of C16 in rumen-protected fats actually can help specific microbes in the rumen to digest fibres in a better way, and in a way that actually increases the microbial protein which increases your protein content. So that's, I wouldn’t call it a short span, but that in short is actually what the new model does. It just gives you better advice in terms of when to feed fats, how much to feed and which fats.

That’s it for our Why Feed Fats series, which I hope you found both useful and insightful. If you want to know more, then please follow us on our social media channels or contact us via our website. Thanks for watching.

Hi there. My name is Hannes ten Doesschate and I'm the General Manager at Volac Wilmar. At the end of this episode, I would like to thank you for watching, not only this Why Feed Fats episode, but also the other episodes before this. I think it was extremely valuable for all the viewers. I think it was an excellent example of what our company stands for, not only the products that are produced and then sold into the market, but also how it cares about the environment, the sustainability of our business and the challenges that our customers stand for. 

I would like to thank the team, Richard Kirkland and John Newbold and the whole team that was involved in making all the episodes of Why Feed Fats, they did a tremendous job. I'm sure there will be more content to follow on video or on our social media network, or on the website. Please follow us and thank you very much.

All News stories