Classification of Daily Body Weight Gains in Beef Calves Using Decision Trees, Artificial Neural Networks, and Logistic Regression

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to compare the predictive performance of decision trees, artificial neural networks, and logistic regression used for the classification of daily body weight gains in beef calves. A total of 680 pure-breed Simmental and 373 Limousin cows from the largest farm in the West Pomeranian Province, whose calves were fattened between 2014 and 2016, were included in the study. Pre-weaning daily body weight gains were divided into two categories: A—equal to or lower than the weighted mean for each breed and sex and B—higher than the mean. Models were developed separately for each breed. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the curve on a test set for the best model (random forest) were 0.83, 0.67, 0.76, and 0.82 and 0.68, 0.86, 0.78, and 0.81 for the Limousin and Simmental breeds, respectively. The most important predictors were daily weight gains of the dam when she was a calf, daily weight gains of the first calf, sex of the third calf, milk yield at first lactation, birth weight of the third calf, dam birth weight, dam hip height, and second calving season. The selected machine learning models can be used quite effectively for the classification of calves based on their daily weight gains.

Short review of current limits and challenges of application of machine learning algorithms in the dairy sector

“…This approach allows for managing, processing, and detecting patterns and correlations among complex and unrelated data to develop decision support systems useful for PLF. ML has been used in many domestic species, such as pigs [7], poultry [8], beef [9], and dairy cattle [10]. Despite the growing interest in all these sectors, this work focuses on dairy cattle and their food production, an industry that has started to use many innovative technologies.…”