Feed is 50–70% of the cost of producing milk — so it's where the most money is won or lost. This 5-part course takes you from how a cow turns feed into milk, through cheap home-grown forage and feeding to the cow's stage, to building a least-cost ration from local feeds and proving it pays with margin over feed cost.
Chapter 1 — the rumen, dry-matter intake, and why 'forage first' is the foundation of cheap, healthy milk.
Chapter 2 — cutting stage, conserving as silage or hay, storage losses, and why testing your forage pays for itself.
Chapter 3 — the lactation curve, body-condition scoring, and why the transition cow makes or breaks the whole lactation.
Chapter 4 — balancing energy and protein, the Pearson square, and choosing supplements that actually pay.
Chapter 5 — the cheapest input (water), the cheapest insurance (minerals), and the margin-over-feed check that proves it all works. Deliverable: your feed cost per litre.