The application of milk quotas has stressed the importance of maximising the financial margin per litre of quota as well as those margins calculated on a per cow or a per hectare basis. Since quotas were Introduced there has been a move towards exploiting the value of high quality forage by reducing the amounts of compound feed supplementation. However, low amounts of compound feeding in early lactation can cause ketosis or can reduce fertility. So many farmers with autumn calving cows have tended to feed high amounts of compounds for the first three months of lactation and then, about the end of the calendar year, decide whether changes in feeding are necessary to meet quota targets for the last quarter of the year.