Filling the Bulk Tank: How Dairy Producers Are Rethinking Feeding Strategy

As feed costs reshape dairy economics, we spoke with Eric Simoneau (Ducharme), Marcel Lévesque (Lactech), and Marc-Antoine Guesthier (Cargill) — industry experts working directly with dairy producers — to understand how the industry is adapting and what precision feeding strategies are delivering real results.

Rising forage costs are forcing dairy producers to make harder choices about nutrition. Land, seed, machinery, fuel, and labour have all become more expensive. The result? What used to be considered the “cheap” part of the ration now carries real weight in the budget. Producers are responding by rethinking how they approach feeding, moving from broad-stroke decisions to precision management focused on efficiency.

The question driving this shift is simple: how do I get more milk from every pound of feed? The answer involves understanding three fundamentals, including using available tools better, making strategic decisions about products, and optimizing management practices.

Key fundamentals guide every ration

Good ration development always starts in the same place: understanding herd nutritional needs (lactation stage, production level, body condition, rumen health), knowing forage quality through lab analysis, and weighing feed cost against return on investment. But, how producers prioritize these elements is changing.

“At current forage prices, the importance is filling the bulk tank and not the manure pit,” says Eric Simoneau, Dairy Nutrition Advisor at Ducharme.

In other words, waste costs real money. But, producers haven’t always seen it that way.

“Forage was historically considered cheap, but rising input costs have changed that perspective,” explains Marcel Lévesque, Senior Technical Advisor at Lactech. “Producers now realize the true cost of what goes into every bale.”

He adds that this awareness shift moves the conversation from “how much can I produce?” to “how efficiently can I produce it?”

That is where the technical work begins. Marc-Antoine Guesthier, MSc, PAS, Agr., Strategic Manager of Dairy Technical Services at Cargill Canada, says the practical response is focused on “maximizing forage utilization, optimizing Income Over Feed Cost, stabilizing the rumen to reduce waste, and keeping a close eye on feed efficiency.”

The focus is on extracting maximum value from your inputs.

Data changes the conversation

The tools for managing feed have improved significantly. Guesthier notes that regular forage testing helps determine digestibility, NDF, starch content, and dry matter. Additionally, herd monitoring software can track milk, components, and intake in real time, while field evaluations such as the Penn State Shaker Box tests for ration sorting, manure screening and bunk observation, indicate what’s happening with digestion and feed utilization.

This combination of data and field observation transforms decision making. Lévesque says limited forage inventories have pushed the industry to manage forage more carefully and recognize its high cost and impact on milk production costs. In turn, that has encouraged a more precise approach to ration formulation, including “limiting safety margins in rations as much as possible to provide exactly what is needed.” This precision strategy reduces waste and unnecessary feed cost.

Where Rumensin fits into strategy

When it comes to additives, Rumensin® has a well-defined place.

“It works on two levels: increasing milk production and decreasing feed intake,” says Lévesque, noting that together these drive better feed efficiency and more marketable fat and protein output from fewer resources.

Simoneau takes a practical approach when discussing Rumensin with producers. He says the conversation usually starts with “feed efficiency, ROI, and the low cost of Rumensin,” often in relation to increasing milk and, in some cases, reducing grain.

Guesthier builds producer confidence through on-farm testing and before/after comparisons, grounding recommendations in concrete data, noting how Rumensin can improve energy efficiency, promote better feed conversion and contribute to rumen stability.

Historical association between Rumensin and milk fat depression in low-fiber or high-starch rations still shapes some producers’ and veterinarians’ perceptions. However, modern rations have changed that equation. Better forage quality, more thoughtful starch management, and improved fiber balance create different conditions.

“In modern rations, Rumensin maintains or even improves fat levels,” says Lévesque, a position supported by recent research from done in New York and Wisconsin.

The protein strategy evolution

The shift toward component-based pricing isn’t just changing how producers feed their herds today; it’s influencing longer-term decisions too. Simoneau notes that producers are now “choosing bulls for protein and milk versus fat production,” a deliberate genetic pivot that reflects where the market is heading.

As Lévesque points out, genetic progress is measured in decades, not seasons. “Before genetic selection can modify components, we must adjust feeding practices to favor protein production. This requires a global action plan for each producer. It took about 10 years to significantly modify fat components. I expect a similar timeframe for major advances in protein,” he says.  

That means producers are doing more work at the ration level. Guesthier considers the evolution as a shift “from a quantity-based approach to a quality-based approach,” one that involves “optimizing metabolizable protein, fine-tuning amino acids like lysine and methionine, and using protected amino acids where the economics support it.”

Simoneau says the shift is already showing up in practice.

“Since this winter, we have been working more on protein testing, calculating ratios more regularly, and calculating feed margins based on the investment made in the ration.” It’s a more disciplined approach, and for many operations, a new one.

The incremental edge

Margins in dairy are tight. That reality shapes which tools matter, and what adjustments make economic sense. The right feeding strategy and additives, supported by on-the-farm data, can deliver measurable returns.

The producers winning right now understand that small improvements compound. Feed efficiency gains, sharper focus on protein investment, rumen stability that translates to fewer health issues — none are dramatic individually. But together, they shift profitability and sustainability performance. That’s what modern feeding strategies deliver: incremental gains through better data, more precision, and communication about what actually works.

References available upon request