HERFS/AUTUMN BONUS TYDSKRIF 2026

Milk price R7,00/litre Milk price R7,00/litre Current average meal intake 8 kg/cow/day Current average meal intake 8 kg/cow/day Meal cost R5 500/ton or R5,5/kg Meal cost R5 100/ton or R5,1/kg Current avg litres 19 L/cow/day Margin from Sce- nario 1 R94,50 Income/cow/day 19 L x R7,00 = R133,00 Meal cost/cow/day R5,10 x 8 kg meal = R40,80 Meal cost/cow/day R5,50 x 8 kg meal = R44,00 Meal cost/cow/day R89,00 + R40,80 = R129,80 Margin/cow/day R133,00 – R44,00 = R89,00 Production to make the same margin/ cow/day from Sce- nario 1 R139,80/R7,00 = 18,5 L Scenario 1 Current production Scenario 2 Decreased meal cost Figure 1: Comparison of cow milk production economics under current and decreased meal cost scenarios Milk price R7,00/litre Milk price R7,00/litre Current average meal intake 8 kg/cow/day Current average meal intake 8 kg/cow/day Meal cost R5 500/ton or R5,5/kg Meal cost R5 900/ton or R5,9/kg Current avg litres 19 L/cow/day Margin from Scenario 1 R94,50 Income/cow/day 119 L x R7,00 = R133,00 Meal cost/cow/day R5,90 x 8 kg meal = R47,20 Meal cost/cow/day R5,50 x 8 kg meal = R44,00 Meal cost/cow/day R89,00 + R47,20 = R136,20 Margin/cow/day R133,00 – R44,00 = R89,00 Production to make the same margin/cow/day from Scenario 1 R136,20/R7,00 = 19,4 L Scenario 1 Current production Scenario 3 Increased meal cost Figure 2: Impact of increased meal cost on cow milk production and required output to maintain profit margin The difference between the two scenarios is 19 litres per cow per day and 18,5 litres per cow per day. Therefore, if you lose more than 500 mL per cow per day, you are making less margin than if you had stayed on the more expensive meal. To determine how much milk production you need to gain when increasing the cost per ton, the following equation applies. www.agribonus.co.za Herfs/Autumn 2026 BONUS 93