Dairy Management Research Articles

IMPACT OF WARANA DAIRY FARMING PATTREN ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF DAIRY FARMERS

ABSTRACT The study was conducted in 20 randomly selected villages of Panhala taluka in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra state. A total of 400 dairy farmers were randomly selected from the selected villages for the study. This study aims to assess the impact of Shri Warana Dairy Co-op M P P F Ltd pattern on socioeconomic profile, knowledge and adoption of dairy management practices of dairy farmer member producers and constraints faced by them. The data collection was done by the use of structured interview schedule and through personal interview. The socio-economic status of dairy farmers was raised after becoming the member of Shri Warana Co-op M.P.P.F. Ltd. The highly significant differences were observed in statistical analysis of herd size, annual income, risk orientation, social participation, source of information, knowledge and adoption of dairy farmers as impact of Warana dairy farming pattern after becoming the member except land holding. Almost all the independent and dependent variables of the socio-economic status of the dairy farmers has shown the highly significant impact after becoming the members may lead to the concrete conclusion that the co-operativee movement and mode is responsible for bringing-up the sea change in the livelihood of these farmers.

A study on knowledge and adoption of dairy farmers about improved dairy management practices

A study on knowledge and adoption of dairy farmers about improved dairy management practices

Expert system for dairy cattle management

India is basically an agriculture country and the dairy sector plays a significant role in supplementing family income and generating employment in the rural areas, particularly among the landless, small and marginal farmers and farm women, besides providing cheap and nutritious food to millions of people. In India, the total milk production is extremely poor in terms of productivity in the world due to lack of proper extension system. Even though, information on various aspects of dairy cattle management is available, they are not reaching the required area of the farm units / farmers. To address this problem, a rule based expert system for dairy cattle management was developed with user friendly menus. This system interacts with users in two ways. As a decision support tool, the user can interact with the system using some arranged rules which are collection of if / then rules, collected from experts in the veterinary field. Using these rules, a knowledge base was designed for the expert system and programming codes were writeen in VB. Net. The proposed expert system provides instant access of the required knowledge on selected parameters, viz. feeding, breeding, diseases, cattle shed management, milking, fodder cultivation and health management. This expert system is useful as an online guide to the users who are involved in animal husbandry and dairy management.

The influence of dairy management strategies on water productivity of milk production

Livestock production is the main user of water resources in agricultural production. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of dairy management strategies such as feeding strategies, milk yield and replacement rate on the water productivity of milk. The study is based on site conditions of North-East Germany. The water input is considered as the sum of crop transpiration from precipitation, the total irrigation water and the drinking water of the animals. Four feeding strategies, based on the maximization of grass silage, maize silage, pasture and concentrate, were analyzed. The milk yield varied between 4000 and 12,000kg fat corrected milk (FCM) cow−1year−1 in steps of 2000kg. Feed water productivity on a dry mass (DM) base varied widely between 1.5kg(DM)m−3 of water input for grass silage and 2.6kg(DM)m−3 for maize silage, 0.8–1.8kg(DM)m−3 for grain and 0.4kg(DM)m−3 for soybeans from Brazil. The water productivity of milk increased with an increasing milk yield. The lowest water productivity was calculated at 4000kg(FCM) with 1.1kg(FCM)m−3 water input. At a milk yield of 8000kg(FCM) the water productivity was 1.5kg(FCM)m−3 and at 10,000 and 12,000kg(FCM) it was 1.6kg(FCM)m−3. The most beneficial conditions related to water productivity in dairy farming exemplarily for site conditions of North-East Germany are found to be with a milk yield about 10,000kg(FCM) and a grass silage and maize silage based feeding.

Using simulation to interpret a discrete time survival model in a complex biological system: fertility and lameness in dairy cows.

The ever-growing volume of data routinely collected and stored in everyday life presents researchers with a number of opportunities to gain insight and make predictions. This study aimed to demonstrate the usefulness in a specific clinical context of a simulation-based technique called probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) in interpreting the results of a discrete time survival model based on a large dataset of routinely collected dairy herd management data. Data from 12,515 dairy cows (from 39 herds) were used to construct a multilevel discrete time survival model in which the outcome was the probability of a cow becoming pregnant during a given two day period of risk, and presence or absence of a recorded lameness event during various time frames relative to the risk period amongst the potential explanatory variables. A separate simulation model was then constructed to evaluate the wider clinical implications of the model results (i.e. the potential for a herd’s incidence rate of lameness to influence its overall reproductive performance) using PSA. Although the discrete time survival analysis revealed some relatively large associations between lameness events and risk of pregnancy (for example, occurrence of a lameness case within 14 days of a risk period was associated with a 25% reduction in the risk of the cow becoming pregnant during that risk period), PSA revealed that, when viewed in the context of a realistic clinical situation, a herd’s lameness incidence rate is highly unlikely to influence its overall reproductive performance to a meaningful extent in the vast majority of situations. Construction of a simulation model within a PSA framework proved to be a very useful additional step to aid contextualisation of the results from a discrete time survival model, especially where the research is designed to guide on-farm management decisions at population (i.e. herd) rather than individual level.

Methane emission inventories for enteric fermentation and manure management of yak, buffalo and dairy and beef cattle in China from 1988 to 2009

Large ruminant production systems (dairy, beef, buffaloes and yaks) in China have experienced significant changes during the last 30 years driven by increased demand for milk and meat consumption and discontinued use of beef cattle and buffaloes as draft animals. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of these changes on methane (CH4) emissions from enteric fermentation and manure management in large ruminants in China. The emissions were developed using Tier 1 and 2 methodologies of the International Panel on Climate Change. The Tier 2CH4 emission for each species was a sum of emissions calculated from several groups based on their physiological states, e.g. milking cows, dry cows, sires and steers/heifers at various ages. Total CH4 emission inventory for dairy cattle, beef cattle, buffaloes and yaks in China increased gradually from 5530 to 6761Gg/year or 4514 to 5777Gg/year calculated using the Tier 1 or 2 method during the period of 1988–2009. This increase was driven by increased population and production of dairy and beef cattle (e.g. Tier 2CH4 emissions increased respectively from 125 to 1028Gg/year and from 2915 to 3689Gg/year). However, during the same period Tier 2CH4 emissions from buffaloes and yaks reduced from 860 to 593Gg/year and 614 to 467Gg/year, respectively. Beef cattle were main emitters which produced 63.8% of total emissions in 2009, followed by dairy cattle (17.8%), buffaloes (10.3%) and yaks (8.1%). There was a large difference in provincial contributions. In 2007, the 3 highest emission provinces (Sichuan, Tibet and Henan) each contributed 8.5–10.5% to national emissions, and the lowest 3 accounted for only 0.1–0.2% (Beijing, Zhejiang and Shanghai). The uncertainties associated with these inventories were discussed. These results provide benchmark information for Chinese authorities to develop appropriate policies and mitigation strategies to reduce carbon footprint in the large ruminant production sector in China.

Prediction of manure nitrogen and organic matter excretion for young Holstein cattle fed on grass silage-based diets.

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of sex (steers vs. heifers) of young Holstein cattle on N and OM excretion in feces and urine and to use these data to develop prediction models for N and OM excretion. Data used were derived from a study with 20 autumn-born Holstein cattle (10 steers and 10 heifers) with N and OM intake and output measured at age of 6, 12, 18, and 22 mo, respectively. The cattle were offered a typical diet used on U.K. commercial farms containing a single grass silage mixed with concentrates. In each period, the cattle were housed as a single group in cubicle accommodation for the first 20 d, individually in metabolism units for the next 3 d, and then in calorimeter chambers for the final 5 d with feed intake, feces, and urine excretion measured during the final 4 d. Within each period, sex had no effect (P > 0.05) on N or OM intake or excretion or N utilization efficiency, with exceptions of steers having a greater intake of N (P = 0.036) and OM (P = 0.018) at age of 18 mo and a lower ratio of fecal N:N intake (P = 0.023) at age of 6 mo. A range of regression relationships (P < 0.05) were developed for prediction of N (g/d) and OM (kg/d) excretion in feces and urine. The present data were also used to calculate accumulated N and OM intake (kg) and excretion for the 2 sexes. Sex had no effects (P > 0.05) on accumulated N or OM intake or N or OM excretion in feces and urine or retained N and OM during the first or second year of life. On average for the 2 sexes at first and second year of age, the accumulated N excretions in feces were 11.4 and 21.1 kg and in urine 11.6 and 30.6 kg, respectively, and the corresponding values for accumulated OM excretions were respectively 241.5, 565.7, 30.3 and 81.5 kg. A number of equations were developed to predict accumulated N and OM excretion in feces and urine (kg) using BW (kg; P < 0.001, r(2) = 0.95 to 0.97). The accurate prediction of N and OM excretion in feces and urine is essential for reducing N pollution to ground and surface water and calculating methane and nitrous oxide emissions from manure management of dairy and beef production systems. These data can add novel information to the scientific literature and can be used to improve national inventories of manure N output and greenhouse gas emissions and to develop appropriate mitigation strategies for young Holstein cattle.

Technical note: Evaluation of an ear-attached movement sensor to record cow feeding behavior and activity

The ability to monitor dairy cow feeding behavior and activity could improve dairy herd management. A 3-dimensional accelerometer (SensOor; Agis Automatisering BV, Harmelen, the Netherlands) has been developed that can be attached to ear identification tags. Based on the principle that behavior can be identified by ear movements, a proprietary model classifies sensor data as “ruminating,” “eating,” “resting,” or “active.” The objective of the study was to evaluate this sensor on accuracy and precision. First, a pilot evaluation of agreement between 2 independent observers, recording behavior from 3 cows for a period of approximately 9h each, was performed. Second, to evaluate the sensor, the behavior of 15 cows was monitored both visually (VIS) and with the sensor (SENS), with approximately 20h of registration per cow, evenly distributed over a 24-h period, excluding milking. Cows were chosen from groups of animals in different lactation stages and parities. Each minute of SENS and VIS data was classified into 1 of 9 categories (8 behaviors and 1 transition behavior) and summarized into 4 behavioral groups, namely ruminating, eating, resting, or active, which were analyzed by calculating kappa (κ) values. For the pilot evaluation, a high level of agreement between observers was obtained, with κ values of ≥0.96 for all behavioral categories, indicating that visual observation provides a good standard. For the second trial, relationships between SENS and VIS were studied by κ values on a minute basis and Pearson correlation and concordance correlation coefficient analysis on behavior expressed as percentage of total registration time. Times spent ruminating, eating, resting, and active were 42.6, 15.9, 31.6, and 9.9% (SENS) respectively, and 42.1, 13.0, 30.0, and 14.9% (VIS), respectively. Overall κ for the comparison of SENS and VIS was substantial (0.78), with κ values of 0.85, 0.77, 0.86, and 0.47 for “ruminating,” “eating,” “resting,” and “active,” respectively. Pearson correlation and concordance correlation coefficients between SENS and VIS for “ruminating,” “eating,” “resting,” and “active” were 0.93, 0.88, 0.98, and 0.73, and 0.93, 0.75, 0.97, and 0.35, respectively. In conclusion, the results provide strong evidence that the present ear sensor technology can be used to monitor ruminating and resting behavior of freestall-housed dairy cattle. Our results also suggest that this technology shows promise for monitoring eating behavior, whereas more work is needed to determine its suitability to monitor activity of dairy cattle.

A field study to determine the prevalence, dairy herd management systems, and fresh cow clinical conditions associated with ketosis in western European dairy herds

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, major management systems, and fresh cow clinical conditions associated with ketosis in western European dairy herds. A total of 131 dairies were enrolled in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom during 2011 to 2012. A milk-based test for ketones (Keto-Test; Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan; distributed by Elanco Animal Health, Antwerp, Belgium) was used for screening cows between d 7 and 21 after calving and ketosis was defined as a Keto-Test ≥100µmol/L. Study cows were observed for clinical disease up to 35d postcalving. Multivariate analysis (generalized estimating equation logistic regression) was performed to determine country, farm, management, feed, and cow factors associated with ketosis and to determine associations between ketosis and fresh cow diseases. Thirty-nine percent of the cows were classified as having ketosis. The herd average of ketosis was 43% in Germany, 53% in France, 31% in Italy, 46% in the Netherlands, and 31% in the United Kingdom. Of the 131 farms, 112 (85%) had 25% or more of their fresh cows resulting as positive for ketosis. Clinical ketosis was not reported in most farms and the highest level of clinical ketosis reported was 23%. The risks of ketosis were significantly lower in Italy and the United Kingdom compared with France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Larger herd size was associated with a decreased risk of ketosis. The farms that fed partially mixed rations had 1.5 times higher odds of ketosis than those that fed total mixed rations. Cows that calved in April to June had the highest odds of ketosis, with about twice as high odds compared with cows that calved in July to September. The cows that calved in January to March tended to have 1.5 times higher risk of ketosis compared with cows that calved in July to September. The odds of ketosis in parity 2 and parity 3 to 7 was significantly higher (1.5 and 2.8 times higher, respectively) than the odds of ketosis in parity 1. The odds of ketosis was significantly smaller in parity 2 compared with parity 3 to 7. Ketosis was associated with significantly higher odds of all common fresh cow conditions: metritis, mastitis, displaced abomasum, clinical ketosis, lameness, and gastrointestinal disorders. Odds of ketosis in cows having had twins or dystocia were not increased, whereas higher odds of ketosis were observed in cows with milk fever or retained placenta.

Marketing Raw Milk from Dairy Farmers before and after the 2008 Milk Scandal in China: Evidence from Greater Beijing

ABSTRACTChina's 2008 milk scandal severely impacted its dairy industry. Afterwards, the government took prompt efforts to regulate and enhance food safety standards. For example, a dairy marketing management policy was implemented, and concentrated dairy complexes were recommended as options for smallholder dairy farmers. The results of this study show that the policies affected marketing channels at the farm gate. Since then, new dairy complexes have emerged and are becoming the primary marketing channel for milk. The marketing transformation has profound implications for food safety, and has strengthened vertical coordination in the Chinese dairy chain.

Precision Dairy Farming: The Next Dairy Marvel

India emerging as world’s largest producer with the annual milk production reaching to the level of 133 million tons in 2012-13 (BAHS 2012-13). Dairy farming is the single largest contributors to Indian GDP and employment. It contributes 5 percent of GDP and involves 70 million farming households. The productivity in the sector is six times below its potential at current factors costs. Poor yield (output per dairy animal) explains the gap between current and potential productivity. The yield is low due to inadequate dairy management, poor animal husbandry and poor quality animals. So, there is need of suitable and proper managemental techniques which can improve the efficiency of production. Precision livestock farming can become a tool in this context. Precision Livestock Farming is the principal means by which sensors will be used in livestock farming. Unlike traditional mechanization, which depended on large equipment applied to large production units, “precision dairy management” uses sensor-based management tools that define animal needs and automatically delivers individual management applications.

Practice, preference and performance of cattle under peri-urban dairy management system in Mymensingh

The objective of this research was to assess the status of cattle in respect of breeding system, quality of breeding services, their production, reproduction, health status, management system and marketing system using an in-depth baseline survey. The mean of homestead land owned by the farmers was 36.17± 32.94 decimal and most of them (48.3%) own very low homestead land (11-50 decimal). Average cultivable land owned was found as 101.52±61.044 decimal and a considerable number of farmers have medium (51-150 decimal) to high (151 onward decimal) land area. From the collected data, it is clear that most of the households have cattle and chicken. But among cattle owners, about 77.62% have lower number (1-3). Most of the farmers 69.8% use locally available grass and only 3.2 % fed exotic grass to their cows. Milk sale and consumption (52.13%) was found as main objective behind cattle rearing. Semi-intensive method of rearing was found most acceptable (77.62%) among the peri-urban farmers. Disease problem was quite high because of lack of routine vaccination where vaccination was found to be practiced by only 38.46% farmers. Indigenous cattle are of high preference among the farmers (52.45%) because of its easy management and high resistance to disease, 41.2% percent farmers preferred crossbred cattle. Main reasons behind preference for Deshi cattle were easy management (24.48%) and lower feed requirement (12.59%) whereas, reason behind crossbred preference (35.66%) was higher milk production. Artificial Insemination (AI) was preferred (61.06%) over natural service (38.94%). For artificial insemination, semen of Holstein Friesian (43.07%) was preferred where Deshi was the second most choice (32.12%). Most of the farmers (82.9%) have no idea about genotype, quality &amp; merit of semen. Average milk yield of Deshi and crossbred genotype were found as 1.72±0.80 and 6.65±5.05 liter per day respectively whereas lactation period and dry period were found respectively as 243.98±113.13 and 92.37±63.14 days in crossbred, 249.69±106.93 and 96.58±32.06 days in Deshi cows. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v42i2.18485 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2013. 42 (2): 89-95

Prediction of insemination outcomes in Holstein dairy cattle using alternative machine learning algorithms

When making the decision about whether or not to breed a given cow, knowledge about the expected outcome would have an economic impact on profitability of the breeding program and net income of the farm. The outcome of each breeding can be affected by many management and physiological features that vary between farms and interact with each other. Hence, the ability of machine learning algorithms to accommodate complex relationships in the data and missing values for explanatory variables makes these algorithms well suited for investigation of reproduction performance in dairy cattle. The objective of this study was to develop a user-friendly and intuitive on-farm tool to help farmers make reproduction management decisions. Several different machine learning algorithms were applied to predict the insemination outcomes of individual cows based on phenotypic and genotypic data. Data from 26 dairy farms in the Alta Genetics (Watertown, WI) Advantage Progeny Testing Program were used, representing a 10-yr period from 2000 to 2010. Health, reproduction, and production data were extracted from on-farm dairy management software, and estimated breeding values were downloaded from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory (Beltsville, MD) database. The edited data set consisted of 129,245 breeding records from primiparous Holstein cows and 195,128 breeding records from multiparous Holstein cows. Each data point in the final data set included 23 and 25 explanatory variables and 1 binary outcome for of 0.756±0.005 and 0.736±0.005 for primiparous and multiparous cows, respectively. The naïve Bayes algorithm, Bayesian network, and decision tree algorithms showed somewhat poorer classification performance. An information-based variable selection procedure identified herd average conception rate, incidence of ketosis, number of previous (failed) inseminations, days in milk at breeding, and mastitis as the most effective explanatory variables in predicting pregnancy outcome.

Evaluation of effects of metritis management in a complex dairy herd health management program

Evaluating the effects of all interventions in a dairy herd, including the effects of various herd health management programs (HHMP), is highly relevant. A traditional randomized controlled trial is the gold standard but is likely practically impossible or prohibitively expensive to use for a general evaluation of a HHMP. Generalizability may also be poor because of the dynamics of the production contexts. In this study, we demonstrate an approach for evaluating the effects of an HHMP in the field, specifying an intervention theory for an ongoing HHMP in the context of the Danish dairy industry. As an example, we suggest one coherent analytical approach for studying the possible effects on milk production of systematic postpartum examinations of vaginal discharge, which is supposed to improve detection and treatment of metritis or endometritis. This routine is one component of the HHMP. The data consisted of 121 herds and 76,953 lactations over a 15-yr period. For parity group 1, the negative effects of metritis (despite treatment) on 305-d milk production after a normal calving were reduced by 116kg of energy-corrected milk after enrollment in the HHMP. For parity group 2 and parity group >2, enrollment in the HHMP resulted in a 129-kg and an 80-kg energy-corrected milk yield increase in milk production, respectively. The results indicate that effects of the HHMP existed, which were mediated through improved metritis detection. This study demonstrates the importance of a clear-cut intervention theory, although even with a theory, the research question can be too herd and context specific. In such a case, a within-herd randomized controlled trial study design seems to be the only way to achieve a valid result for a given herd, and acquiring valid results from an observational multi-herd study will be very difficult.

Short communication: Genetic characterization of digital cushion thickness

Dairy cow lameness is a serious animal welfare issue. It is also a significant cause of economic losses, reducing reproductive efficiency and milk production and increasing culling rates. The digital cushion is a complex structure composed mostly of adipose tissue located underneath the distal phalanx and has recently been phenotypically associated with incidence of claw horn disruption lesions (CHDL); namely, sole ulcers and white line disease. The objective of this study was to characterize digital cushion thickness genetically and to investigate its association with body condition score (BCS), locomotion score (LOCO), CHDL, and milk production. Data were collected from 1 large closely monitored commercial dairy farm located in upstate New York; 923 dairy cows were used. Before trimming, the following data were collected by a member of the research team: BCS, cow height measurement, and LOCO. Presence or not of CHDL (sole ulcer or white line disease, or both) was recorded at trimming. Immediately after the cows were hoof trimmed, they underwent digital sonographic B-mode examination for the measurement of digital cushion thickness. Factors such as parity number, stage of lactation, calving date, mature-equivalent 305-d milk yield (ME305MY), and pedigree information were obtained from the farm’s dairy management software (DairyCOMP 305; Valley Agricultural Software, Tulare, CA). Univariate animal models were used to obtain variance component estimations for each studied trait (CHDL, BCS, digital cushion thickness average, LOCO, height, and ME305MY) and a 6-variate analysis was conducted to estimate the genetic, residual, and phenotypic correlations between the studied traits. The heritability estimate of DCTA was 0.33±0.09, whereas a statistically significant genetic correlation was estimated between DCTA and CHDL (−0.60±0.29). Of the other genetic correlations, significant estimates were derived for BCS with LOCO (−0.49±0.19) and ME305MY (−0.48±0.20). Digital cushion thickness is moderately heritable and genetically strongly correlated with CHDL.

A Seven-Year Intervention to Diffuse Economic Innovations with Safety Benefits to Wisconsin Dairy Farmers

The purpose of this study was to conduct a targeted information dissemination campaign to persuade agricultural managers to adopt more profitable practices that reduce injury hazards compared to traditional practices. The project disseminated information to northeast Wisconsin dairy managers about three production practices that were more profitable and had safety benefits (barn lights, silage bags, and calf feed mixing sites) using information sources that these managers were known to rely on. The project prospectively evaluated rolling, independent, community-based, probability samples (a different group of operations each year) at baseline and after each of seven intervention years. The project also evaluated comparison samples from either Maryland or New York dairy operations after intervention years two through seven. In baseline versus year seven comparisons, the Wisconsin dairy managers reported getting more information about the three practices. Compared to New York managers, Wisconsin managers reported getting more information after year seven about the three practices. Among Wisconsin managers, intervention year was associated with increased adoption of all three practices. Compared to New York managers, Wisconsin managers were more likely to report adopting two of the three practices after year seven. A targeted campaign that disseminated information to managers through traditional channels was associated with increases in manager reports of getting information about, being aware of and adopting profit-enhancing work practices with safety benefits in a high-hazard industry.

Compost bedded pack dairy barn management, performance, and producer satisfaction

The objective of the research was to characterize herd performance, producer satisfaction and recommendations, and management practices used by compost bedded pack (CBP) managers in Kentucky (42 farms and 47 CBP facilities). Farms were visited between October 2010 and March 2011. A random selection of cows housed solely in the CBP were scored for locomotion and hygiene. Changes in monthly Dairy Herd Improvement Association performance records, including milk production, SCC, reproductive performance, and daily bulk-tank somatic cell count after moving into the CBP were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS 9.3; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). The GLM procedure of SAS (SAS 9.3) was used to develop models to describe CBP moisture, CBP temperature at 20.3cm, and mean herd hygiene. Producers provided 9.0±2.2m2 of pack space per cow (n=44). Barns constructed with an attached feed alley cost $1,051±407 per cow (n=40). Barns constructed without an attached feed alley cost $493±196 per cow (n=13). Kiln-dried shavings required 0.05±0.04m3 of bedding per cow per day (n=15). Green shavings required 0.07±0.06m3 of bedding per cow per day (n=12). The most-frequently cited benefits of the CBP included cow comfort (n=28), cow cleanliness (n=14), and the low-maintenance nature of the system (n=10). Increased stirring frequency, stirring depth, and ambient temperature increased pack temperature, measured at 20.3cm below the CBP surface. Increased stirring depth, pasture-adjusted space per cow, and drying rate decreased CBP moisture. Mean herd locomotion and hygiene scores were 1.5±0.3 (n=34) and 2.2±0.4 (n=34), respectively. Increased 20.3-cm depth CBP temperature and ambient temperatures improved mean herd hygiene. Bulk-tank somatic cell count decreased from the year before to the year after moving into the CBP barn (323,692±7,301 vs. 252,859±7,112 cells/mL, respectively) for farms using the CBP barn as the primary housing facility (n=9). Daily milk production, collected from monthly Dairy Herd Improvement Association tests, increased from before moving into the CBP barn to the second year after (29.3±0.3 vs. 30.7±0.3kg, respectively) for farms using the CBP barn as the primary housing facility (n=8). Calving interval decreased from the year before to the second year after (14.3±0.1 vs. 13.7±0.1mo) moving into the CBP barn for farms using the CBP as primary housing (n=8).

Understanding dairy employee attitudes, concerns, and perspectives to improve employee management and overall herd health

A significant part of dairy management on large farms involves managing the employees who milk, feed, and provide care to the cows. However, management of people is generally an area about which dairy owners express a lack of knowledge and comfort. In 2012, a project was initiated to improve management of dairy employees by providing employee feedback to dairy owners through an anonymous telephone interview conducted by a single bilingual interviewer. The objectives of this study were to learn about the attitudes, concerns and perspectives of dairy farm employees, to apply gathered information to management practices and choices, and to recommend changes in management to better engage employees in the success of the operation.

Environmental efficiency of alternative dairy systems: A productive efficiency approach

Agriculture across the globe needs to produce “more with less.” Productivity should be increased in a sustainable manner so that the environment is not further degraded, management practices are both socially acceptable and economically favorable, and future generations are not disadvantaged. The objective of this paper was to compare the environmental efficiency of 2 divergent strains of Holstein-Friesian cows across 2 contrasting dairy management systems (grazing and nongrazing) over multiple years and so expose any genetic × environment (G×E) interaction. The models were an extension of the traditional efficiency analysis to account for undesirable outputs (pollutants), and estimate efficiency measures that allow for the asymmetric treatment of desirable outputs (i.e., milk production) and undesirable outputs. Two types of models were estimated, one considering production inputs (land, nitrogen fertilizers, feed, and cows) and the other not, thus allowing the assessment of the effect of inputs by comparing efficiency values and rankings between models. Each model type had 2 versions, one including 2 types of pollutants (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus) and the other 3 (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus, and phosphorus surplus). Significant differences were found between efficiency scores among the systems. Results indicated no G×E interaction; however, even though the select genetic merit herd consuming a diet with a higher proportion of concentrated feeds was most efficient in the majority of models, cows of the same genetic merit on higher forage diets could be just as efficient. Efficiency scores for the low forage groups were less variable from year to year, which reflected the uniformity of purchased concentrate feeds. The results also indicate that inputs play an important role in the measurement of environmental efficiency of dairy systems and that animal health variables (incidence of udder health disorders and body condition score) have a significant effect on the environmental efficiency of each dairy system. We conclude that traditional narrow measures of performance may not always distinguish dairy farming systems best fitted to future requirements.

Creating Open Education Resources for Teaching and Community Development through Action Research: The Milk Production and Hygiene Module

One of the cornerstones of the AgShare program is the application of an information loop of action research in the training of graduate students to generate new and practical educational materials and interventions for creating OER modules for teaching at universities, and designing interventions and training programs for making improvements in the dairy value chain in Uganda. One major output of the action research project was the generation of data for use in partial fulfillment of a Master’s of Science and Master’s in Agribusiness and Management degrees by participating students. A Milk Production and Hygiene OER module was developed based on components in milk safety, dairy policy, contaminants in milk and dairy products, quality assurance, and dairy planning and management. The OER module was incorporated into an existing graduate level course at Makerere University. As the AgShare approach continuously updates educational materials through the information loop, this ensures that university training of students is applicable to the current needs of the dairy industry.