Estimating Dry Matter Intake with ECON\G

Dry Matter Intake (DMI) is the amount of feed that a cow eats per day, after adjusting for the variation in moisture.

Actual DMI is estimated by measuring the amount delivered, and subtracting the amount left over, after adjusting both for the moisture content.

Expected DMI is a function of body weight (at fresh), days-in-milk (DIM), parity (LACT), current milk yield, and current percent protein.  Researchers have developed formulas to predict this.

If the DMI estimate is consistent, then the difference between the expected DMI and the measured DMI should be a measure of the environmental effects and mixing or delivery errors.  Therefore, tracking this deviation (actual-expected) should be a more sensitive measure of feeding errors.

Steps in Dairy Comp (ALTER):

· Create an item DMI, type 1, Predicted Dry Matter Intake

· Schedule ECON\G DMI to run daily