Tool · Farmers
Summer drop in feed intake
Dry matter the herd loses in hot weather, per day and over a week.
Calculation tool
Summer drop in feed intake
With heat stress, intake can fall by up to 20%. Enter the usual dry matter intake and the number of cows: the calculation shows how much dry matter the herd is missing each day and over a week.
Missing dry matter
- For the herd, each day
- kg
- In a week
- kg
- Per head per day
- kg
- Remaining intake per head
- kg/day
Enter the normal dry matter intake per head: in hot weather it can fall by up to 20%.
Consequences of heat stress
- Drop in intake (up to 20%)
- Poorer production and reproductive performance
- Lower colostrum quality
- Lighter calves at birth
Calculation: loss per head = normal intake × drop %; for the herd × number of cows; for the week × 7.
This tool is also on the page Heat stress.
Transparency
How it works and sources
The normal dry matter intake per head is reduced by the percentage entered, up to the 20% reported in the Heat stress presentation. The difference per head, multiplied by the number of cows, gives the missing dry matter per day; multiplied by 7, the missing dry matter per week.
Data sources
- Alpha presentation “Stress da caldo” (Heat stress): drop in intake of up to 20%
- alphasrl.com page “Biscotti” (bakery by-products): in summer, bakery by-products concentrate the energy level of the feed
Your Technical Partner
Let’s talk about your numbers
Alpha’s technical service checks the ration and dosages against your own situation.