Specialists gathered at TamboDem, in Pehuajó, agreed that total production cost determines profitability and that pasture-based production allows for lower costs. They highlighted the adaptation of New Zealand genetics and the expansion of liveweight records in New Zealand.
Pasture-based production, genetics applied to efficiency and the building of profitable systems were the main themes of a technical field day held in Guanaco, Pehuajó district (Buenos Aires), at the facilities of TamboDem, the demonstration farm of the Cámara de Productores de Leche de la Cuenca Oeste (Caprolecoba). Producers, advisers and specialists exchanged experiences and knowledge with the aim of identifying the main tools to improve the performance of Argentine dairy farms, at a time when profitability is key.
The event featured as main speakers international consultant David Beca, genetics and animal breeding specialist at Massey University Nicolás López Villalobos, and Ric Sherlock, a representative of the LIC cooperative in New Zealand, who addressed different aspects linked to pasture-based production, genetic selection and decision-making within dairy businesses.
López Villalobos spoke about the model developed in New Zealand and its application in grazing-based systems. “New Zealand genetics are highly adaptable to Argentina. The benefit they have brought to Argentina's pasture-based systems is very significant. This cow adapts to grazing and has a very high feed conversion efficiency to transform pasture into milk solids, fat and protein,” he said, in a setting of Jersey cows and Holando crosses.
The specialist noted that profitability remains the main concern and explained that genetics should be understood as a tool at the service of that goal. “What Argentina's dairy producers will look for in New Zealand genetics are cows capable of transforming pasture into milk production,” he said, though he warned that “we need replacement animals that will be better than their mothers,” so “rearing must be very careful to ensure that animals reach their first calving at a good weight and express their full genetic potential.”
“The New Zealand cow has been developed entirely in an outdoor environment. It is an animal resistant to temperature changes. It is an animal capable of walking. It is an animal with the ability to harvest pasture,” he described, referring to attributes especially valued in extensive systems such as those developed in Argentina, where alfalfa makes it “a very powerful country in global milk production.”
For his part, Ric Sherlock highlighted the work to strengthen evaluation systems through a significantly broader database, with the aim of improving the accuracy of the models and the quality of the predictions. Progress is being made toward a unified national evaluation system, driven jointly by different players in the New Zealand industry, under the administration of an independent organization.
Sherlock stressed that liveweight is a key variable for measuring productive efficiency and the costs of dairy systems. As of December, new records will be incorporated into the national evaluation program, especially data on young animals. “We are getting more and more information from rearing animals,” he said, noting that these records allow a more accurate estimate of the weight cows will reach as adults.
The incorporation of this data represents a major leap in the amount of information available for genetic models. The liveweight records database will go from around 1.5 million to more than 4 million observations, while the total volume of weighings will grow from some 2.2 million to 24 million records. “That is going to greatly improve the evaluation,” he assured.
David Beca argued that there is a concrete opportunity for countries capable of producing milk on pasture competitively, in a context of sustained growth in international dairy demand, a scenario in which Argentina has relevant comparative advantages. He recalled that New Zealand, Uruguay and the United States managed to steadily expand their production volumes since 2000, while Australia, the United Kingdom and Argentina showed more modest performances: in Argentina, production grew by only around 20% in the last 25 years.
The consultant maintained that the main factor determining profitability, both in pasture-based and confined systems, is total production cost, within which feed represents the most important component. “When we look at how to improve the performance of a business, the solution will generally lie in the feed side,” he said, stressing that the costs associated with producing and utilizing pastures are considerably lower than those linked to other feed sources.
He thus defended the strategic value of grazing-based systems for countries seeking to consolidate their position in international markets. “The opportunity to produce milk at low cost is the key to being able to export,” he argued. However, he clarified that lower costs do not necessarily imply greater profitability in all cases: both pasture-based and confined systems can be viable depending on market conditions, the value of milk and management efficiency.
In countries such as Argentina or Australia, he noted, fully confined systems have fewer possibilities of sustaining a competitive export strategy and tend to depend on domestic markets with better relative prices. He stressed that pasture-based systems require highly professional management: “You have to be very good at managing pastures so that they grow well all the time.” He also warned about the difficulties of farms that try to position themselves at an intermediate point between both models, since they must simultaneously address variables associated with cow management and forage resources.
The field day was held at one of the farms belonging to Jock Campbell, a producer in the western Buenos Aires basin who has for years promoted technical exchange spaces for the sector. One of the most repeated concepts was the need to understand the dairy farm as a system in which all decisions are interrelated.
“I think we had three excellent speakers. For anyone who wants to understand a bit more about what a profitable, efficient production system is, especially on the pasture side,” Campbell highlighted, for whom profitability does not arise from a specific practice but from the coordinated functioning of multiple factors. “The system is about keeping in mind what governs and determines the profitability of what we do. For that we have to be clear that we are practicing something with parameters that we must respect,” he maintained.
“Many times our perceptions as producers lead us astray, because we tend to seek to prioritize the cow's interests, when the pasture system leads us, forces us, to prioritize the interests of the pasture,” he stated. Describing the working foundations of TamboDem, he placed special emphasis on the human factor: “The people who work with us are at the center of the system,” he assured, explaining that the activity depends on people capable of observing, interpreting situations and making decisions autonomously.
“Then comes the pasture. Pasture has much more potential in Argentina than people believe,” he said, before also highlighting the importance of building simple systems and maintaining active participation in the institutions and working spaces of the dairy chain. The competitiveness of Argentine dairy farming, they concluded, remains closely tied to its ability to make the most of pasture resources, use genetic tools suited to those systems and sustain management models that allow the potential of the fields to be efficiently transformed into milk production.
