Abstract
Cow longevity is recognized as an important trait to improve farm economic performance while concurrently reducing environmental and social impacts. However, there is an economic trade-off between longevity and herd genetic improvement, which may influence the dairy farms’ efficiency and productivity growth over time. This study used a panel data of 723 Dutch specialized dairy farms over 2007-2013 to empirically measure the effect of longevity on dynamic productivity change and its components. First, the productivity growth estimates were obtained using the Luenberger dynamic productivity indicator. Then, the estimates were regressed on longevity and other explanatory variables using dynamic panel data model. Results show that the average dynamic productivity growth was 1.1% per year, comprising of technical change (0.5%), scale inefficiency change (0.4%) and technical inefficiency change (0.2%). Longevity is found to have a statistically significant positive association with productivity growth and technical change, implying that farms with more matured cows were also those farms that recorded increased productivity through technical progress. However, it has a negative association with technical inefficiency change, which might follow from the reduced milk productivity of old cows per unit of inputs used. Dutch dairy farms have a potential to raise productivity growth by reducing technical inefficiencies associated with input utilization.
Highlights
The increased focus on milk productivity of modern dairy cows has been associated with a decline in the length of cow’s productive life, increase in incidences of health problems, decrease in fertility, and poor animal welfare (Hare et al, 2006; Oltenacu and Algers, 2005)
The results show that access to grazing has a negative associa tion with dynamic productivity growth and technical inefficiency change even though the associations are not statistically significant (Table 4)
Results show that the average dynamic productivity growth of Dutch specialized farms was 1.1% per year, comprising of technical change (0.5%), scale inefficiency change (0.4%) and technical inefficiency change (0.2%)
Summary
The increased focus on milk productivity of modern dairy cows has been associated with a decline in the length of cow’s productive life (i.e., longevity), increase in incidences of health problems, decrease in fertility, and poor animal welfare (Hare et al, 2006; Oltenacu and Algers, 2005). Increased longevity reduces investment costs associated with the rearing of fully productive heifers. The reduction in the fertility of cows is the major contributing factor to decreases in the number of parities per cow’s lifetime, lifetime days in milk and longevity (Haworth et al, 2008). Farm profit increases with the number of lactations per cow’s lifetime, which is positively associated with longevity (Haworth et al, 2008). It has been reported that increased longevity reduces the environmental footprint of dairy farming since fewer replacement heifers are required to be raised (Grandl et al, 2016; Bell et al, 2015; Van Middelaar et al, 2014; Hristov et al, 2013; Garnsworthy, 2004). It has been reported that increased longevity reduces the environmental footprint of dairy farming since fewer replacement heifers are required to be raised (Grandl et al, 2016; Bell et al, 2015; Van Middelaar et al, 2014; Hristov et al, 2013; Garnsworthy, 2004). Van Middelaar et al (2014), for example, showed that an increase in cow longevity by 270 days leads to a reduction of
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