Why Feed Efficiency is the Key to Sustainable Milk Production

Feed efficiency is an important concept to understand for both financial and environmental sustainability on the farm. By improving feed efficiency, your cows will produce more milk with less waste, meaning more profit for you and better use of resources across your farm. 

Why feed efficiency matters right now 

With milk prices holding firm, ensuring your farm is feed efficient will lead to improved profits. In June 2025, the UK average milk price was 43.55ppl, while the GB five-year average reached 38.45ppl in May, up 8.3% year on year. 

More pressingly, adverse weather conditions in parts of the UK have made forage availability more volatile. After an exceptionally sunny, dry spring, many farmers report poor grass growth and pressure on silage stocks, requiring extra bought-in feed to keep milk production on track. This ongoing crisis underlines the importance of understanding feed efficiency and increasing ration energy density and digestibility, to make the most of available feed. 

What feed efficiency means, and how to measure it 

In simple terms, feed efficiency is a performance indicator for the amount of milk produced per unit of dry matter intake (DMI).  An improved feed efficiency will reflect less feed input per unit of milk output, leading to lower methane emissions due to reduced DMI and higher profitability from the increase in milk production. 

A common method for calculating feed efficiency is the kg of energy-corrected milk (ECM) divided by the kg of DMI.  

It is worth stepping back and looking at the bigger picture too. AHDB’s Whole-Farm Feed Efficiency frames efficiency as total milk output divided by all feed used across the farm, including youngstock and dry cows.  

Feed costs make up more than 70% of milk production costs, and intake is a major driver of methane and nitrogen outputs. So, improving efficiency is linked with higher profits and lower environmental impact, provided you do not simply move inefficiencies elsewhere. Fertility, replacement rate, heifer rearing and feed wastage all affect the picture, so look at the whole system as you improve. 

Quick ways to start monitoring feed efficiency on farm today: 

• Record feed intake: Keep daily records of the amount of feed consumed by your herd. 

• Track milk production: Monitor your herd’s milk production closely.  

• Assess feed waste: Regularly check for and quantify any wasted feed.  

• Try out a feed efficiency calculator: Like this handy tool from Ever.Ag. 

Where fat supplements fit in the efficiency equation 

Fat is one of the most effective nutritional supplements to increase energy density in the ration, providing around 2.5-times the energy concentration of cereals. Rumen-protected fats pass through the rumen and deliver concentrated energy directly to the small intestine, allowing nutritionists to formulate higher energy density diets without adding to the acid load in the rumen that we would get from starchy sources of energy, such as cereals, leading to potential acidotic issues. 

Not only is it possible to increase milk production from the same amounts of feed, but there are additional benefits of Megalac rumen-protected fat which have been well documented, including better fertility, improved body condition and even a reduction in methane emissions, with one notable study indicating a 13.3% reduction in methane production per litre of milk when Megalac was added to the diet of lactating dairy cows. 

By incorporating rumen-protected fats into your herd’s diet, you support both herd performance and your farm’s sustainability. The additional energy helps cows produce more milk for improved profits, while benefits such as better fertility, stronger body condition and lower methane emissions help to make your herd more productive and your farm operations more financially and environmentally sustainable. Ultimately, the right fat supplement makes every kilogram of feed work harder, improving efficiency on your farm and supporting a more sustainable future for dairy. 

Always sustainably-sourced 

It is important to note that when it comes to Megalac, the ingredients are always responsibly-sourced. Rumen-protected fats are primarily based on vegetable oils, including by-products from the palm oil sector, and as such comply with our comprehensive and strict sustainability policy.   

Principally, all vegetable oil raw materials sourced comply with the NDPE policy. The key elements of this include adherence to principles of No Deforestation, No Development on Peat and No Exploitation of people and local communities. Therefore, the combination of sustainable raw material use and highly effective product formulations, which improve efficiency at the farm level, contributes to our company’s strong environmental credentials. 

By choosing Megalac, you not only make every kilogram of feed more efficient on your farm, you also contribute to a more resilient and sustainable dairy sector for the future. If you would like tailored advice on improving feed efficiency, get in touch with the Megalac team.