Economic Threshold Analysis of Supplementing Dairy Cow Diets with Betaine and Fat during a Heat Challenge: A Pre- and Post-Experimental Comparison

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Economic analysis can be used before animal experiments to estimate the change in production that would be needed for experimental treatments to be as equally profitable as the control treatment. After the experiment, the results can be examined to assess if the production threshold was met. This approach was applied before and after an animal experiment that tested the effect of feeding dietary supplements on the milk production of dairy cows experiencing a heat event in climate-controlled chambers. Heat stress reduces the milk yield of cows, but the inclusion of supplements such as betaine and fat could lessen the impact. The pre-experimental economic threshold analysis showed that cows fed a diet containing betaine, fat, or betaine plus fat would need to produce 1%, 9% and 11% more milk, respectively, to be equally as profitable as the control diet. Results from the subsequent animal experiment combined with previously modelled projections of heat stress conditions showed that supplementing diets with fat or betaine, but not in combination could exceed the milk production threshold required to be as profitable as the control diet. ABSTRACT: Ex ante economic analysis can be used to establish the production threshold for a proposed experimental diet to be as profitable as the control treatment. This study reports (1) a pre-experimental economic analysis to estimate the milk production thresholds for an experiment where dietary supplements were fed to dairy cows experiencing a heat challenge, and (2) comparison of these thresholds to the milk production results of the subsequent animal experiment. The pre-experimental thresholds equated to a 1% increase in milk production for the betaine supplement, 9% increase for the fat supplement, and 11% increase for fat and betaine in combination, to achieve the same contribution to farm profit as the control diet. For the post-experimental comparison, previously modelled climate predictions were used to extrapolate the milk production results from the animal experiment over the annual hot-weather period for the dairying region in northern Victoria, Australia. Supplementing diets with fat or betaine had the potential to produce enough extra milk to exceed the production thresholds, making either supplement a profitable alternative to feeding the control diet during the hot-weather period. Feeding fat and betaine in combination failed to result in the extra milk required to justify the additional cost when compared to the control diet.