Best Management Practices for Growing Maize on Dairy Farms

12. Glossary$BW BW - Breeding Worth. The unit is $.The genetic index given to cows and bulls <strong>for</strong> their ability to turn feed intoprofit.BW ranks bulls and cows on their expected ability to breed replacementswhich will be efficient converters of feed into farmer profit. It is used as aguide to making breeding decisions. Breeding Worth estimates are comparableacross herds, ages and breeds.An estimated Breeding Worth of +$100 indicates that using this animal asa parent of a replacement is expected to generate an extra $100 profit peryear per 4.5 tonnes of dry matter consumed, compared to using a parentwith a BW of zero.DMCRMGDDKKLWGMEMSNPTDry matter.Comparative relative maturity, a rating of the maize maturity. High valuesindicate that the crop will take longer to mature.<strong>Growing</strong> degree days, a term used to describe the accumulated days whenthe average temperature is over a certain base temperature. For maize,GDD’s are calculated using a base temperature of 8 o C.GDD = (max + min temp) - 82Potassium, when referring to nutrients.One thousand, when referring to plant population. 89 000 plants per hectarecan be describe as 89K/ha.Liveweight gain.Metabolisable energy, a measure of feed value. Reported as megajoulesper kilogram of dry matter (MJ/kg DM).Milksolid.Nitrogen.Phosphorus.Tonnes (1000 kg).23