This ratio has ranged from about 2.10 to 2.75 during the past year. For various reasons, the above ratios has limited information for Florida dairymen. Still another factor is that Florida markets for feed and milk differ from the national average. To get the answer we computed two typical diets for Florida dairies, priced the feedstuffs at market values F.O.B. feed mills in central Florida, and divided the cost of diet that would have to be fed to get 100 lb. of milk into the mailbox milk price received at the UF Dairy Research Unit. Is was assumed cows are in midlactation milking about 75 lb. per day.
All percentages are on a dry matter basis.
Feed Price Ratio, the costs of the two diets were averaged. This average cost was then divided into the DRU mailbox milk price. This represents the ratio of the value of a hundred pounds of milk sold, to the market price of the feed it took to get that milk. Additional expenses such as feeding costs, shrink or waste, etc. are not included. This ratio for the past 20 months is shown in the graph on the left.