Profitability in dairy comes down to a simple equation: income minus expenses. STgenetics® designed the Eco$ Index around this equation, combining income-generating traits with those that reduce costs, all in one highly focused number.
According to Eric Zwiefelhofer, STgenetics® Central Region Manager, Eco$ truly excels as a profitability index thanks to its emphasis on the traits that matter most.
So, what is Eco$?
The Eco$ Index incorporates 10 highly heritable traits, combining production, feed efficiency, and form and function.
At 49%, nearly half of the weighting goes to combined fat and protein as components drive milk checks. Another 28% focuses on EcoFeed® for improved feed efficiency, and the final 23% covers key form and function traits surrounding fertility, longevity, and udder health.
Eco$ was built to be focused and impactful. While other indexes like Net Merit Dollars (NM$) include up to 17 traits, Eco$ narrows in on the ones that are both highly heritable and most relevant to a farm’s bottom line.
“Every time you add traits to an index, you dilute the influence of each one,” Zwiefelhofer explains. “So we focused on 10 traits that are both highly heritable and at the end of the day have the largest impact on a dairy’s bottom line.”
The most recent NM$ base change prioritized fat over protein and added more negative emphasis on body weight, encouraging selection for smaller cows in pursuit of things like feed efficiency.
But EcoFeed® research tells a more nuanced story.
Zwiefelhofer shares, “We know from the EcoFeed® research that smaller cows are not always more feed efficient, they just consume less feed. We know that big cows can be efficient, small cows can be an inefficient and vice versa.”
That’s why the Eco$ formula hasn’t changed. It’s focused, proven, and built for long-term consistency.
Real World Data
At most commercial dairies, tracking individual cow feed intake just isn’t possible. But at the Ohio Heifer Center, STgenetics® has the tools to go deeper.
“We’ve invested heavily in GrowSafe feed bunks,” explains Zwiefelhofer, “and can monitor daily dry matter intake at the individual cow level and combine it with Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) test data to get a better sense of that profitability equation.”
In a recent trial at the Ohio Heifer Center, more than 450 first-lactation cows were grouped by Eco$ score and tracked for production and intake. The results spoke for themselves.
Cows in the top third for Eco$ produced 174 more pounds of fat and protein per lactation than the bottom group, all while consuming the same 44 pounds of dry matter per day. That translated to a 22% improvement in income over feed costs, or $433 more per cow.
Fertility improved as well. High Eco$ cows averaged five fewer days open, leading to better reproductive efficiency and long-term sustainability.
On Farm Audits
While these trials provide controlled insight, STgenetics® also conducts on-farm audits to demonstrate Eco$ and genetic impacts in commercial herds. “We regularly pull data from herd management software to compare the top and bottom third of cows by genetics,” says Zwiefelhofer. “We look at income, components, fertility, culling, and consistently see the same result: If we can make changes on genetics, this has a huge impact on the dairy's bottom line.”
Together, these audits and trials confirm that Eco$ can be more than just an index. It can be a powerful tool for driving profitability through smart genetic selection.
To learn more about Eco$, visit the links below:
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4bTNj3w
Apple: https://bit.ly/4kN2OhC