Forum Ruminants 2024: aiming for profitability on farms

How can we contribute to the profitability of livestock farms? This was the central question that Techna's teams answered at the annual forum held on 27 and 28 May at Talmont-Saint-Hilaire in the Vendée. Precision nutrition, decision-making tools, zootechnical focus, presentation of trial results... all aspects of the technical and economic performance of livestock farms were discussed with the hundred or so participants.

One of the new features presented at the forum, WeFeed, the feed management tool for dairy herds, is now available to the ruminant technical teams of Techna's partner customers.

WeFeed can be used in a number of ways: the first involves precision rationing using the manufacturer's feed ranges. The second involves optimisation: the user can either optimise a ration by proposing a tailor-made feed, or formulate a feed according to the desired nutritional levels. As well as rationing, the application incorporates other developments. No more importing files or entering data manually, WeFeed is connected to Black Box for automatic integration of forage and to Easy Map for retrieving herd performance data.

WeFeed's flexible customisation means it can be adapted to suit each manufacturer. Customised support, including user training, is also provided.

Techna has analysed the zootechnical results of 780 dairy farms monitored in Easy Map, the performance management tool. On these farms, which perform better on average than the average French farm, the top 10% of lactation peaks only reach 47 kg. Significant reservoirs of productivity exist, some of which are underestimated.

Techna's experts presented the latest findings on intestinal function at the forum. At the start of lactation, the intestine helps to compensate for limited rumen capacity. In this respect, precision nutrition combined with Techna's solutions plays a crucial role in improving nutrient absorption mechanisms, particularly at the start of lactation:

• The use of Novatan increases the intestinal presence of proteins (by-pass proteins) and supports dairy performance. In addition, the addition of protected methionine and lysine (Aminea Duo) enables specific needs to be covered, depending on production levels and the type of ration.
• For carbohydrates, the aim is to concentrate the ration from an energy point of view while limiting inflammatory processes. As a result, the combination of Elensis, which makes the most of the energy in the ration, and BG Supra, which modulates the inflammatory reaction, is highly relevant.
• For lipids, a diversified intake of fatty acids is preferable for highly productive cows at the start of lactation.

Meat sheep production in France is currently buoyant and lucrative, despite the fall in numbers. It is therefore essential to take advantage of this buoyant market. Techna's experts stressed the importance of increasing numerical productivity, a direct indicator of farm profitability. In this respect, nutrition is one of the levers for improving the performance of the ewe-lamb pair. Controlling it is all the more important during the critical peripartum period. Techna's nutritional programmes (based in particular on Elensis and BG Supra) improve lambing conditions and reduce lamb mortality. In lamb fattening, the use of Elensis increases the margin on feed costs and improves carcass quality.

The forum also provided an opportunity to discuss the levers of profitability in suckler farming, with the presentation of the results of a survey aimed at identifying the virtuous practices of the most economically efficient farms.