The Use of Computer Records: A Tool to Increase Productivity in Dairy Herds

Abstract

The level of adoption of herd management information system veterinary automated management and production control program (VAMPP) Bovine and its impact on productivity of 912 specialized dairy systems with at least 5 years of information recorded was studied. Herds were classified as low (n = 389), medium (n = 343), or high (n = 180) adoption level on the basis of extent and consistency of record keeping for variables related to production, reproduction, and health. For each herd, within-year averages were obtained for six performance traits: age at first calving (AFC), days open (DO), daily milk yield (DMY), productive life (PL), incidence of clinical mastitis (MAST), and incidence of lameness (LAM). These variables were investigated with a generalized linear mixed model that included the fixed effects of the adoption level, follow-up year, and their interaction, adjusted by the fixed effects of herd size, agroecological zone, calendar period, breed group, and the random effects of variation between/within herds. A significant effect of the adoption level over all the variables was observed, except DMY and PL. The follow-up year was significant for all the variables except LAM. There were marked reductions for AFC and DO in the first 4 years of follow-up. AFC was higher and DO shorter in the low compared to medium and high level of adoption herds (p < 0.001). DMY showed a significant increasing trend (p < 0.001), regardless of the adoption level. There was higher MAST and LAM incidence in the higher adoption level (p < 0.05). The economic benefit was estimated through a stochastic simulation model using an approach based in partial budget analysis. For a herd with a medium level of adoption, the change in gross margin (GMMIS $USD) and marginal return rate (MRRMIS %) for the first 5 years of use of the system was estimated. Under these conditions, there was a GMMIS of $6890 and MRRMIS of 163%. Variation of ±10% in DMY and DO caused changes in the GMMIS of ±$1000 and ±$110, respectively, and in MRRMIS ±24% and ±4%, respectively. The trends suggest a positive influence of VAMPP in productive and reproductive traits during the first years of implementation, with less benefit for the low adoption levels.

A review of on-farm recording tools for smallholder dairy farming in developing countries

“…If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright specific information on dairy cows, such as through the incorporation of on-farm data streams and automated monitoring systems, can improve the thoroughness and effectiveness of data gathering for assessing milk production, reproductive performance, and overall farm management (Celozzi et al 2020). Madouasse et al (2010) and Sánchez et al (2020) added that conducting individual data enables the selection of specific animals within a group and adopting different management techniques. This empowers farmers to make well-informed decisions swiftly, improves their herds' management, and enhances dairy cows' health and production.…”

“…Thus, it is important to acknowledge the financial implications of the adoption of dairy recording tools, especially in developing countries. Sánchez et al (2020) explored the expenses associated with providing computer systems, software licences, and other hardware necessary for data gathering and management can be relatively high. Despite this, Koltes et al (2018) agreed that future advancements would necessitate real-time data collection, data management, and the creation of prediction models to facilitate early intervention to prevent or minimize losses in present and future animal populations.…”

Dual-Purpose Cattle Raised in Tropical Conditions: What Are Their Shortcomings in Sound Productive and Reproductive Function?

“…It has been observed in several tropical cattle production systems that record keeping is, at best, inefficient [ 15 ]. For example, González-Padilla et al [ 16 ] observed that 49.1% of Mexican dual-purpose smallholders kept no records, 47.7% had handwritten records, and only 2.8% kept them on a computer.…”

“…Thus, a dichotomy exists between how much the farmer is able to invest in producing more animal products and their economic limitations. Potential solutions to the record dilemma do exist, and tailor-made computer software for record keeping in tropical conditions has become available and has been adopted by livestock farmers in recent years [15,29]. Information storage capabilities have come a long way, along with the education of the farmers, which encourages them to invest time in data entry and analysis (Figure 1).…”