Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

Production costs decreased as productivity increased. Therefore, going
from a lactation producing 1,350 kg (5.0 kg/cow per day) to 1,500 kg (5.55
kg/cow per day) reduced the costs/kg from US$0.31 to US$0.29. With a
lactation producing 2,000 kg, milk production costs decreased to US$0.23/kg,
with cows grazing on H. rufa pastures and receiving supplementation yearround
of chicken manure and molasses to satisfy those nutritional
requirements that H. rufa cannot satisfy.
Cratylia with sugarcane in Costa Rica. With this forage option it is
possible to completely eliminate the need to purchase feed concentrates,
molasses, or chicken manure during the dry period. This option is capable of
maintaining the production even when lactating cows are producing 2,000
kg/lactation (7.4 kg/day). The production cost/kg of milk is reduced by 13%
compared with the current feeding system and 9% less with production levels
of 1,500 kg/lactation. The investment required to implement this option in a
farm with an average herd of 47 cows in Esparza (Costa Rica) costs around
US$6,000, which includes the establishment of 8.9 ha of Cratylia, 1.8 ha of
sugarcane and the purchase of a cane-chopper.
Figure 2 shows the real interest rate that could be paid for this
investment, depending on the productivity per cow, assuming that the
producer allocates 50% of the marginal income obtained as a result of
implementing this forage alternative. The real interest rate in Costa Rica
during the study was set at 13% (24% nominal interest minus 11% inflation
rate) and the available credit was for a 5-year term with 1 year of grace.
Under this situation, it was not feasible to pay this credit unless cows
achieved a production of 2,000 kg/lactation. With productivities of 1,500
kg/lactation, it would have been possible to pay this credit if real interest rates
had been lower (5%-10%) and longer payback time periods (close to 10 years).
This situation should be analyzed for purposes of livestock policy and
competitiveness. In an economic scenario of open markets operating without
subsidies, producers should have the option to obtain credits with real
interest rates that reflect the opportunity cost of money at the international
level, which is currently at 5%-7% in real terms, with 15 years to pay.
Other alternatives analyzed, for example, establishing Brachiaria
brizantha with or without Arachis pintoi, yielded similar results. However, the
establishment of these options releases fragile lands that could be put to other
alternative uses, such as reforestation. Figure 3 shows the percentage of
pastureland that could be released for other uses in Costa Rica.
95