Performance Of Dairy Farms Research Articles

Assessing agro-environmental performance of dairy farms in northwest Italy based on aggregated results from indicators

Dairy farms control an important share of the agricultural area of Northern Italy. Zero grazing, large maize-cropped areas, high stocking densities, and high milk production make them intensive and prone to impact the environment. Currently, few published studies have proposed indicator sets able to describe the entire dairy farm system and their internal components.This work had four aims: i) to propose a list of agro-environmental indicators to assess dairy farms; ii) to understand which indicators classify farms best; iii) to evaluate the dairy farms based on the proposed indicator list; iv) to link farmer decisions to the consequent environmental pressures.Forty agro-environmental indicators selected for this study are described. Northern Italy dairy systems were analysed considering both farmer decision indicators (farm management) and the resulting pressure indicators that demonstrate environmental stress on the entire farming system, and its components: cropping system, livestock system, and milk production.The correlations among single indicators identified redundant indicators. Principal Components Analysis distinguished which indicators provided meaningful information about each pressure indicator group. Analysis of the communalities and the correlations among indicators identified those that best represented farm variability: Farm Gate N Balance, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Net Energy of the farm system; Net Energy and Gross P Balance of the cropping system component; Energy Use Efficiency and Purchased Feed N Input of the livestock system component; N Eco-Efficiency of the milk production component.Farm evaluation, based on the complete list of selected indicators demonstrated organic farming resulted in uniformly high values, while farms with low milk-producing herds resulted in uniformly low values. Yet on other farms, the environmental quality varied greatly when different groups of pressure indicators were considered, which highlighted the importance of expanding environmental analysis to effects within the farm.Statistical analysis demonstrated positive correlations between all farmer decision and pressure group indicators. Consumption of mineral fertiliser and pesticide negatively influenced the cropping system. Furthermore, stocking rate was found to correlate positively with the milk production component and negatively with the farm system.This study provides baseline references for ex ante policy evaluation, and monitoring tools for analysis both in itinere and ex post environment policy implementation.

Reproductive performance of dairy farms in western Buenos Aires province, Argentina

The objective of this study was to describe the reproductive performance of 23 grazing-based dairy farms from western Buenos Aires province in Argentina. The data set included data from the breeding season starting in May 2011 and ending in March 2012. Submission, conception, and pregnancy rates ranged from 42.4 to 70.2%, 20.1 to 44.9%, and 10.3 to 24.5%, respectively. No correlation was observed between conception and submission rates, suggesting that dairy farms with poor submission rates but with relatively high conception rates might increase pregnancy rates by simply putting more effort into increasing estrus detection and submission rates. Decreases in submission and conception rates were observed among 21-d cycles, indicating seasonal variation. A greater number of cows in estrus at the beginning of the breeding period could have facilitated estrus detection and therefore increased submission rates. In addition, restarting the breeding activities with timed artificial insemination programs may explain the highest submission rates at the beginning of the breeding period. A first decrease of 5.1 percentage units in conception rate was observed during the spring (October–November) and an additional decrease of 2.4 percentage units in conception rate was observed during the summer (January–February). Decreases in conception rates could be related to high intakes of high-protein diets, heat stress, or a combination of both. Attenuating heat stress during the summer may be critical for maximizing conception rates in grazing systems from western Buenos Aires province.

Performance of dairy farms in Finland and Norway from 1991 to 2008

Agriculture and agricultural policy in Finland and Norway have shared many common features in the past, except that Finland joined the European Union in 1995. In this article, we examine profitability and productivity dynamics in Finnish and Norwegian farms during the period 1991 to 2008. Our analysis draws on a decomposition of profitability change into various sources. The results provide evidence that the stronger liberalisation of agricultural policy in Finland has provided greater flexibility for farmers to change and thus has created better scope for productivity and profitability improvements compared with Norway. , Oxford University Press.

Performance, return and risk of different dairy systems in Australia and New Zealand

Changes in the farm operating and policy environments and a need to remain profitable under a cost-price squeeze have contributed to dairy systems in Australia and New Zealand becoming more intensive and complex in recent decades. Farm systems in both countries are now diverse, varying from being based predominantly on pasture with little purchased supplements, to those dependent on high levels of feed supplements and even having zero grazing. Dairy farm performance (defined in this paper as production or technical performance), return (return on assets or profit) and risk (variation in economic performance over time), and intensity of dairy systems was examined using farm survey data, case studies and existing published studies. The level of single technical performance measures, such as milk production, feed conversion efficiency and pasture consumption, prevailing in a business are not guides to the operating profit and return on assets of a business. In addition, when survey data of farm performance was grouped by return on assets, few farms were in the top 25% in successive years. Farms that performed consistently well were characterised by good, but not extreme, technical performance in a range of key areas, which translated to favourable business return (return on asset and profit). The knowledge and skills of farm managers are critical, and means that many different dairy systems can perform well physically and financially and successfully meet farmer goals. The relation between risk and the intensity of dairy systems was also investigated. Options that intensified systems generally resulted in higher net wealth for the farm owner, but almost always at increased risk. The best system for any farmer to operate is one which best meets their multifaceted preferences and goals, regardless of system type.

273 BOVINE EMBRYO SEXING IN FIELD CONDITIONS: EFFICACY OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION METHOD AND PREGNANCY RATES IN DAIRY HERDS LOCATED IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST REGIONS OF BRAZIL

Currently, artificial insemination with sexed semen is the simplest and most economical strategy for choosing the sex of the offspring. However, sexed semen is not available for certain valuable bulls. Therefore, the use of unsexed semen and subsequent sexing of embryos before transfer into recipients can be an interesting approach to take advantage of these bulls. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of embryo sexing under field conditions, as well as the technical performance of dairy farms in the south and southeast regions of Brazil. Day 7 embryos (n = 2447) collected from superovulated (porcine FSH-prostaglandin F2α protocol) cows kept in 8 herds in the states of Paraná and São Paulo were morphologically classified (grades 1, 2, and 3) and subjected to micromanipulation to remove a biopsy of trophoblast cells. Biopsied embryos were kept on standby in holding medium (TQC, Nutricell, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil) until sexing results were known. Each biopsy was introduced into individual plastic microtubes containing 8 mL of lysis solution and proteinase K (Invitrogen, Darmstadt, Germany) maintained at 55°C for 5 min, followed by 5 min at 95°C. After this step was added 20 µL of a solution composed of primers specific to the Y chromosome (5′-CCTCCCCTTGTTCAAACGCCCGGAATCATT-3′; 5′-TGCTTGACTGCAGGGACCGAGAGGTTTGGG-3′) and for an autosomal gene (5′-AAGACCTCGAGAGACCCTCTTCAACACGT-3′; 5′-AGGTCGCGAGATTGGTCGCTAGGTCATGCA-3′), deoxynucleotide 5′-triphosphates, reaction buffer, and a Taq DNA polymerase kit (Embrapa, Brasília, Brazil). The samples were transferred to a thermal cycler and subjected to 40 cycles of temperature variation for DNA amplification. After PCR amplification, 20 µL of each sample was applied in 2% agarose gel and subjected to electrophoresis (100 V, 40 mA) for approximately 35 min. After identifying the sex, the biopsied embryos as well as additional intact embryos (n = 3945) were transferred into recipients programmed to be on Day 7 of oestrous. The diagnosis of pregnancy and confirmation of the sex of fetuses were performed by ultrasonography between 60 and 70 days after embryo transfer. Pregnancy rate differences after the transfer of intact and biopsied embryos were analysed by a chi-squared test. The reading of the electrophoresis band for sex identification was clear for 2202 (90%) embryos and doubtful for 245 embryos. The overall pregnancy rates were 55.9 and 58.3% for biopsied and intact embryos, respectively (P > 0.05). Pregnancy rate from sexed Grade 3 embryos (32.5%, 67/206) was lower (P < 0.05) than those from Grade 1 (60.1%, 834/1388) and Grade 2 (53.3%, 463/853) embryos. The accuracy of sex identification (sex predicted by PCR and sex observed by ultrasonography) was 93.2%. These results indicate that embryo sexing by PCR can be used successfully in on-farm conditions.

Effect of abandoning highland grazing on nutrient balances and economic performance of Italian Alpine dairy farms

In many European mountain areas, such as the Alps, highland grazing is declining. In addition to its effect on natural landscape and biodiversity, abandoning highland grazing may affect dairy-farm profitability and have environmental consequences in the lowland. The objective of this study was to assess economic and environmental effects of abandoning highland grazing of dairy herds in the central Italian Alps. We compared environmental and economic indicators of 12 farms that applied highland grazing (HG) of dairy cows with those of 16 farms that applied no grazing (NG), neither in highland nor in lowland. Environmental indicators used were nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) surplus per ha of land or per ton of FCM (fat-corrected milk). Economic indicators used were labor income of the farm family (k€ per farm) or labor income per ton of FCM (€ ton − 1 FCM). Compared with HG farms, NG farms had larger total milk production (370.7 vs 141.4 ton FCM), higher production per ha (13.9 vs 8.4 ton FCM ha − 1 ) and higher annual milk yield per cow (6.3 vs 4.4 ton FCM). Because of the extensive manner of milk production in highland of HG farms, the NP surplus per ha of highland was negligible (6.4 N and − 0.2 P ha − 1 year − 1 ), and, therefore, not further considered. The N surplus averaged 186 kg N ha − 1 year − 1 for NG farms compared with 137 kg N ha − 1 year − 1 for lowland of HG farms. The P surplus averaged 30 kg P ha − 1 year − 1 for NG farms compared with 24 kg P ha − 1 year − 1 for lowland of HG farms. A high milk production per ha and a low % FSS (feed self-sufficiency) were associated with a high NP surplus, whereas the grazing system did not affect NP surplus per ha. Labor income per farm was lower for HG farms (30.3 k€) than for NG farms (72.2 k€), but expressed in euro per ton FCM, labor income was higher for HG (0.24 €) than for NG farms (0.16 €). A smaller farm size in the lowland and a lower milk production per ha lowland explained the lower labor income for HG farms compared with NG farms. Additional revenues from highland grazing, i.e. high-value cheese and grazing subsidies, caused higher labor income per ton FCM for HG than for NG farms. Hence, farmers tend to increase their net farm income by increasing their milk production per farm, via increasing their area of lowland and/or their milk production per ha lowland, while at the same time they abandon highland grazing. As enlargement of the lowland area is hampered by increasing urbanization of the valleys of the Italian Alps, farmers probably will increase their milk production per ha lowland. A higher milk production per ha lowland, however, will increase the environmental impact in the lowlands.

Benchmarking environmental and operational parameters through eco-efficiency criteria for dairy farms

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is often used for the environmental evaluation of agri-food systems due to its holistic perspective. In particular, the assessment of milk production at farm level requires the evaluation of multiple dairy farms to guarantee the representativeness of the study when a regional perspective is adopted. This article shows the joint implementation of LCA and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in order to avoid the formulation of an average farm, therefore preventing standard deviations associated with the use of average inventory data while attaining the characterization and benchmarking of the operational and environmental performance of dairy farms. Within this framework, 72 farms located in Galicia (NW Spain) were subject to an LCA + DEA study which led to identify those farms with an efficient operation. Furthermore, target input consumption levels were benchmarked for each inefficient farm, and the corresponding target environmental impacts were calculated so that eco-efficiency criteria were verified. Thus, average reductions of up to 38% were found for input consumption levels, leading to impact reductions above 20% for every environmental impact category. Finally, the economic savings arising from efficient farming practices were also estimated. Economic savings of up to 0.13 € per liter of raw milk were calculated, which means extra profits of up to 40% of the final raw milk price.

Effects of integrated cropping and pasture renewal on the performance and profit of dairy farms

Pasture renewal on the milking platform of dairy farms may or may not involve growing forage crops in the transition from old to new pasture.

Performance of Finnish dairy farms and its determinants: A comparison of parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric methods

The aim of this article is to assess the efficiency improvement potential of Finnish dairy farms and to explain performance differences between farms using alternative production frontier methods. ...

Technical efficiency and metatechnology ratios for dairy farms in three southern cone countries: a stochastic meta-frontier model

This paper compares technical efficiency (TE) and metatechnology ratios (MTR) for dairy farms from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay using the meta-frontier (MF) approach. The estimated average MTRs for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are 83.8, 79.6 and 91.4%, respectively, and these results are significantly different from each other. The TEs estimated with respect to the MF are 72.8, 65.8 and 73.4% for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, respectively. The average TEs for Argentina and Uruguay are not significantly different from each other but are significantly higher than the value for Chile. The production frontiers for Argentina and Uruguay are relatively close to the MF, which suggests that these two countries might need to increase investments to promote local research to generate new technologies and/or search for technologies to adapt from more distant areas. By contrast, Chile could benefit from adaptive research, designed to make borrowed technology from Argentina and/or Uruguay applicable to local conditions, which could be a cost effective way to improve dairy farm performance.

Nutrient loss pathways from grazed grasslands and the effects of decreasing inputs: experimental results for three soil types

Agriculture is a main contributor of diffuse emissions of N and P to the environment. For N the main loss pathways are NH3-volatilization, leaching to ground and surface water and N2(O) emissions. Currently, imposing restraints on farm inputs are used as policy tool to decrease N and P leaching to ground water and to surface water, and the same measure is suggested to combat emissions of N2O. The response, however, to these measures largely depends on the soil type. In this study nutrient flows of three dairy farms in The Netherlands with comparable intensity on sand, peat and clay soils were monitored for at least 2 years. The first aim was to provide quantitative data on current nutrient loss pathways. The second aim was to explore the responses in partitioning of the nutrient loss pathways when farm inputs were altered. Mean denitrification rates ranged from 103 kg N ha−1 year−1 for the sandy soil to 170 kg N ha−1 year−1 for the peat soil and leaching to surface water was about 73 kg N ha−1 year−1 for the sandy soil, 15 kg N ha−1 year−1 for the clay soil and 38 kg N ha−1 year−1 for the peat soil. For P, leaching to surface water ranged from 2 kg P ha−1 year−1 for the sandy site to 5 kg P ha−1 year−1 for the peat site. The sandy soil was most responsive to changes in N surpluses on leaching to surface water, followed by the peat soil and least responsive was the clay soil. For P, a similar sequence was found. This article demonstrates that similar reductions of N and P inputs result in different responses in N and P loss pathways for different soil types. These differences should be taken into account when evaluating measures to improve environmental performance of (dairy) farms.

The importance of nutrient balance, cropping strategy and quality of dairy cow diets in sustainable organic systems

AbstractThis paper reviews some of the key factors that influence the sustainability and performance of organic dairy farms. These include the efficient utilisation of on‐farm nutrients to maintain soil fertility and optimal crop production, minimising the importation of nutrients via purchased feeds and organic fertilisers, and the production of high‐quality milk products. The system requires the growing of a range of crops to produce diets with a minimum content of 60% forage and an adequate feed energy concentration, with the growing of high‐energy forages being limited on some farms by local climatic conditions. The compatibility between the genetic merit of the cow and the type of organic system depends on the quality of the forages produced on the farm and the level of concentrates fed annually. A failure to feed diets with sufficient energy, particularly during the early lactation period, leads to lower production, an increased risk of metabolic disorders and reduced reproductive efficiency. While purchasing concentrate feeds increases the stocking density, milk output and income per unit area of land, and also increases the flexibility to meet the annual feed requirements, the sustainability of the system is markedly reduced. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

Strategy factors as drivers and restraints on dairy farm performance: Evidence from Sweden

This paper explored how factors that are potential driving and restraining forces on farm strategy affect farm performance, in terms of economic, technical and allocative input and output efficiency. By assuming some inputs as given in the short run (capital and farmer labor) both long and short run input efficiency scores were calculated. A model of how strategy driving and restraining forces affect farm performance was developed. Three levels of potential driving and restraining forces were identified: external-operational environment, internal environment and micro-social environment. The model was detailed with specific factors, and those of especially the last two types of environments were used as explanatory variables in Tobit regressions, where the dependent variables were data envelopment analysis efficiency scores. We found that several of the strategy factors were important for farm performance. For example, several geographic locations (external-internal environment) were driving forces for economic and technical efficiency. Differences in soil and climate may be reasons, as well as potential differences in business culture. When the internal environment was considered, size of fields, distance to fields, bunker silo and tower silo were found to be driving forces for farm performance, whereas quality of forage machinery and a high focus on dairy production were found to be restraining forces. In the micro-social environment, discussing dairy production with someone was a driving force whereas co-farmers were restraints.

Relationships Between Selected Human Resource Management Practices and Dairy Farm Performance

The objectives were to identify relationships between human resource management (HRM) practices used by dairy farm businesses and the productivity and profitability of the dairies. Explanatory variables were the following practices: training, job descriptions, standard operating procedures, milk quality incentives, and the employment of Spanish-speaking employees. The dependent variables were return on assets, return on equity, rolling herd average, and somatic cell count. The effects of individual HRM practices were analyzed to test for means separation between groups that “used” and those that “did not use” HRM practices. The results did not support expectations that differences exist between the groups. However, a significant positive relationship was found between return on equity and the use of continued training (used = 10.61%; did not use = −62.38%), and a significant negative relationship was found between the use of standard operating procedures for feeding and somatic cell count (used = 263,000; did not use = 214,000). Profitability and productivity did not seem to be major factors in producers’ decisions to use or not use HRM practices.

Veterinary dairy herd health management in Europe Constraints and perspectives**

Summary The nature of veterinary work in dairy health management in Europe has changed over the past years and will change even more dramatically in the near future. The consumers and the media show increasing concern about animal welfare, safety of products of animal origin and traceability of animal products. Farmers in Europe have to produce under strict, often expensive and laborious regulations, while still commercially competing with farmers outside the EU and not subject to the same rules. Veterinarians should adapt their knowledge and skills to the new challenges and developments of the dairy sector. Dairy farmers nowadays ask for support in areas that go beyond clinical activities: environmental protection, welfare, nutrition, grassland management, economics and business management. Bovine practitioners should be able to advise in many different areas and subjects ‐ that is the challenge to our profession. Veterinary education with regards to cattle health management should start with individual animal clinical work, which constitutes the basis of herd health advisory programmes. The bovine practitioner should then look beyond that and regard the herd as the unit. Each diseased cow or group of cows should be detected early enough to avoid financial losses or such losses should be prevented altogether by detecting and managing risk factors contributing to disease occurrence. Herd health and production management programmes represent the first level to optimise dairy farm performance. Expansions to that should further be considered, comprising both animal health and welfare issues, as well as food safety and public health issues. The latter could be addressed by quality risk management programmes following the HACCP‐principles. Cattle veterinarians should follow recent developments and invest in new skills and knowledge in order to maintain their usefulness to the modern dairy farmer. Finally we are convinced that the cattle practitioner should evolve into this direction, otherwise the veterinarian as we know him will miss the train in the next years.

Dairy farming financial structures in Hokkaido, Japan and New Zealand

ABSTRACTThe productivity and financial performance of dairy farms in New Zealand and Japan (Hokkaido) were analyzed. By recomposing the official statistics on the dairy industry relative to Japan, New Zealand has low milk yield productivity per cow, but higher per hectare performance because of their seasonal breeding and pasture grazing systems. In the revenue and expenses analysis, New Zealand had a high cash surplus ratio compared with Hokkaido. In the cost analysis, for expenses on a “per kg of raw milk” basis, New Zealand milk production costs are 29% of those in Hokkaido. More than 60% of the production costs were attributable to feed, interest charges and wages in New Zealand. In Hokkaido, the feed cost alone accounted for 73% of the total cost. There is also a remarkably high interest expenditure in New Zealand caused by non‐subsidized fund procurement from finance organizations. In the financial analysis, New Zealand dairy farms have only approximately 50% of the total assets per cow compared with farms in Hokkaido. But total liabilities per cow in Hokkaido are twofold to threefold greater than in New Zealand. The difference between total assets and total liabilities shows that Hokkaido dairy farmers have an equity that is 50–200% greater than New Zealand dairy farmers. In the management analysis, New Zealand has a low turnover ratio of gross assets caused by the seasonal breeding system. In conclusion, New Zealand has higher per hectare production performance than Hokkaido, but has a low utilization of gross assets caused by a seasonal breeding system based on pasture grazing.

The Impact of Cooling Ponds in North Central Texas on Dairy Farm Performance

The objective of this study was to determine whether measurable differences existed between farms with and without cooling ponds. Data from Dairy Herd Improvement records for 1999 through 2002 were obtained on 42 herds located in North Central Texas. Nineteen herds had installed cooling ponds, whereas 23 herds had not. Monthly somatic cell counts for each herd were obtained from the Federal Milk Market Administrator. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED regression model of SAS. Within and across herd groups, milk production from June to October was significantly lower compared with milk production for the rest of the year. Although there was numerically higher average milk production per cow per day throughout the year for herds that used cooling ponds, differences between herd groups that used or did not use cooling ponds were significant only for August production. Herds without a cooling pond had 4.8 kg/d per cow lower production in August than in the cool-season months of November to May (26.4±0.6 vs. 31.2±0.5 kg/d), whereas the difference in August production was only 2.9 kg/d per cow in herds that used cooling ponds (29.0±0.7 vs. 31.9±0.6 kg/d). Differences caused by seasonal use of a cooling pond in culling, days to first service, days open, percentage of estruses observed, and somatic cell counts were not significant. Bulk tank milk samples cultured for 10 different bacteria showed no difference between cooling pond and noncooling pond herds in 2002. Also, there was no difference in incidence of violations from the Texas Department of Health for herds that used or did not use cooling ponds. However, herds with cooling ponds did have a lower percentage of successful breedings, fewer days dry, and a higher percentage of cows in milk compared with dairy herds that used other forms of cooling. Such differences may or may not be attributed to seasonal use of a cooling pond. Therefore, cooling ponds may provide relief from heat stress without adversely affecting most important measures of herd performance.

Associations of stockpersons' personalities and attitudes with performance of dairy cattle herds

We collected questionnaires from 128 stockpersons on 31 Czech dairy farms with the aim to examine three questions: (i) whether the stockpersons’ personality profiles, their attitudes and beliefs about cows, and their age/experience were related to farm performance indicators such as milk yield per standardised lactation, culling of cows or costs of veterinary treatments; (ii) whether stockpersons’ personalities and attitudes were related to their age, gender and duration of their experience with cattle; and, (iii) how the personality traits of stockpersons differed from the same traits in the general Czech population. The NEO Big Five Personality Inventory questionnaires were used to describe the personalities of the stockpersons in five dimensions: neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The attitudes towards cows were examined using a custom-made questionnaire. Attitudes towards cows, as measured by our questionnaire, were unrelated to farm performance. Farms with more neurotic stockpersons had lower milk yields per standardised lactation (r<sub>S </sub>= –0.38, P < 0.05, n = 31) and higher veterinary costs (r<sub>S </sub>= 0.40, P < 0.05, n = 30) and farms with more conscientious staff had lower veterinary costs (r<sub>S </sub>= –0.37, P < 0.05, n = 30). Farms with older stockpersons had higher milk sale prices (r<sub>S </sub>= 0.53, P < 0.01, n = 31) and lower veterinary expenses (r<sub>S </sub>= –0.43, P < 0.05, n = 30). On the level of individual stockpersons, longer history of working with dairy cattle was related to lower neuroticism (r<sub>S </sub>= –0.25, P < 0.01, n = 128). Female stockpersons were more neurotic (P < 0.05) and more agreeable (P < 0.01) than male stockpersons. Stockpersons were substantially less extroverted (P < 0.001), substantially less open to experience (P < 0.001), somewhat less agreeable (P < 0.05) and somewhat more conscientious (P < 0.05) than the average of the Czech population. In conclusion, this study suggests that stockpersons differ in their personalities from the general population and that their personality profiles (but not attitudes towards the animals) might affect dairy farm performance.  

The Contribution of Financial Management Training and Knowledge to Dairy Farm Financial Performance

Cooperative Extension and other institutions (e.g., technical colleges, on-line self study programs, university short courses, etc.) frequently stress the importance of financial management education for successful farming operations. The research reported in this paper attempts to quantify the contributions of such training to the financial performance of dairy farms in Wisconsin. Our results suggest a link between a deeper understanding of financial concepts and greater financial returns but that it is a relatively weak one. Moreover, simple exposure to farm management training programs and self-confidence in farm financial decision-making ability are not significantly related to farm financial outcomes.

Relationships of efficiency to reproductive disorders in Danish milk production: a stochastic frontier analysis.

Relationships of various reproductive disorders and milk production performance of Danish dairy farms were investigated. A stochastic frontier production function was estimated using data collected in 1998 from 514 Danish dairy farms. Measures of farm-level milk production efficiency relative to this production frontier were obtained, and relationships between milk production efficiency and the incidence risk of reproductive disorders were examined. There were moderate positive relationships between milk production efficiency and retained placenta, induction of estrus, uterine infections, ovarian cysts, and induction of birth. Inclusion of reproductive management variables showed that these moderate relationships disappeared, but directions of coefficients for almost all those variables remained the same. Dystocia showed a weak negative correlation with milk production efficiency. Farms that were mainly managed by young farmers had the highest average efficiency scores. The estimated milk losses due to inefficiency averaged 1142, 488, and 256 kg of energy-corrected milk per cow, respectively, for low-, medium-, and high-efficiency herds. It is concluded that the availability of younger cows, which enabled farmers to replace cows with reproductive disorders, contributed to high cow productivity in efficient farms. Thus, a high replacement rate more than compensates for the possible negative effect of reproductive disorders. The use of frontier production and efficiency/inefficiency functions to analyze herd data may enable dairy advisors to identify inefficient herds and to simulate the effect of alternative management procedures on the individual herd's efficiency.