scholarly journals Applying science as a tool for dairy farmers

2005 ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Savage ◽  
C. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Dairy Systems ◽  
Operating Strategies ◽  
Gross Margins ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact

Dairy Systems Monitoring (DSM) was developed out of response from dairy farmers for a benchmarking tool that made fair and equitable comparisons between farms. This benchmarking system is used by the clients to improve their productivity and profitability. The dairy farm simulation model UDDER is used to simulate the farm system. The input information is milk production from fencepost, and monthly data from the farm, including, areas, stock numbers, supplements, crops and nitrogen (N). The model is then calibrated to simulate the farms production, revised and validated monthly. There has been a successful uptake of this program. Currently 50 farms are involved. Dairy Systems Monitoring has generated change in the systems of participating farmers. Dairy Systems Monitoring has proven to be an effective tool to demonstrate the impact of a range of new technologies on farm systems. The tool is used on an ongoing basis to simulate and compare different operating strategies. It has the ability for clients to compare themselves to simular farms. A key benchmark that is analysed is the feed harvested. For every additional 1 tonne of dry matter (DM) harvested, the gross margin (GM) increases by $339/ha. The question this poses for participants is "how do we harvest more pasture"? Is it by growing more pasture, or improving management to harvest more of the existing pasture growth? Dairy Systems Monitoring is an effective extension tool to highlight the impact of new technologies or management practices on the client's farm program. Keywords: benchmarking, dairy farm programmes, feed harvested, gross margins, UDDER model

scholarly journals Comparative environmental impacts of intensive all-grass and maize silage-supplemented dairy farm systems: a review

2007 ◽  
pp. 137-143
Author(s):  
I.D. Williams ◽  
S.F. Ledgard ◽  
G.O. Edmeades ◽  
R.J. Densley
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Farm ◽  
N Leaching ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Low Protein ◽  
Matter Production ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Dairy Systems ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Stocking Rates

Abstract New Zealand dairy farmers are lifting stocking rates and increasing available feed through nitrogen (N) fertiliser applications to pasture, growing maize for silage and other supplementary crops for silage or grazing on-farm, and/or procuring feed supplements off-farm. This has raised concerns about the possibility of increased risk of nutrient losses to waterways and the atmosphere. This paper reviews NZ and overseas data on the integration of maize silage into dairy systems. Maize silage is a low protein forage which helps optimise animal protein intake and reduces N loss. Maize silage-supplemented dairy farms leached more nitrogen per hectare but less per kg milksolids (MS) than intensive all-grass systems. Feeding maize silage on a feedpad and spreading the resulting effluent uniformly over the farm further reduces N leaching. In the Resource Efficient Dairying (RED) trial, total emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O, a potent greenhouse gas) for the maize-supplemented farmlet was 14% lower on a per hectare basis and 22% lower on a kg MS basis than the all-grass system when both received 170 kg N/ha as urea. The increases in maize dry matter production in response to incremental additions of N and water, where production is constrained by these inputs, can be 2-3 times greater than that for pasture. Using a feed and stand-off pad and managing maize growing through minimising tillage effects, determining soil N status at planting and timing N applications appropriately further reduce the environmental impact of maize silage-based dairy systems. Keywords: all-grass, environment, greenhouse gases, intensive dairy systems, maize silage, nitrates

The use of linear programming to investigate the impact of changes in feed price and milk value on gross margin of Taiwanese dairy farms

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 ◽  
pp. 116-116
Author(s):  
P. Chang ◽  
P. Rowlinson ◽  
P. Cain
Keyword(s):  
Linear Programming ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Price Support ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Domestic Prices ◽  
Price Trends ◽  
Import Restrictions ◽  
The Impact

The Taiwanese government assists their dairy industry by supporting domestic prices through a combination of import restrictions, price support, government purchasing and subsidised disposal of surpluses. As a result, dairy production in Taiwan is insulated from international price trends. However, these dairy assistance policies can not protect the domestic price after Taiwan joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at the end of 2001. To access the impact of an open market, linear programming (LP) is applied to model the influence of changing feed price and milk value on dairy farm profitability.

Modelling the risk of different joining times and lamb sale policies

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 1694 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Robertson ◽  
A. F. Southwell ◽  
M. A. Friend
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Feed Resources ◽  
Systems Simulation ◽  
Gross Margins ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stocking Rates

Month of joining and lamb sale strategy influence both the quantity and so value of lamb produced, and the feed required, so are important management decisions contributing to the profitability of sheep systems. Simulation modelling was used to evaluate the impact on gross margins of three lamb sale strategies for different months of joining and varying stocking rates. A flock of purchased Merino ewes producing crossbred lambs in southern Australia was modelled between 1971 and 2011. April joining produced higher gross margins than November or January only if the number of ewes per hectare was increased to potential carrying capacity. At the optimum stocking rate for each month of joining, three sale policies – a flexible lamb sale policy (where lambs were sold depending on seasonal conditions); selling lambs in December; or selling at 45-kg liveweight, all produced a similar mean gross margin, but the feed resources required were least using the flexible strategy (April-joined mean 195 ± 253 s.d. kg/ha for flexible compared with 219 ± 270 kg/ha if selling December or 1085 ± 459 kg/ha if sold at 45 kg). Mean gross margin differed between sale strategies by up to AU$66/ha if the optimal stocking rate was not used. These results suggest that the most advantageous lamb sale strategy will vary with both month of joining and stocking rate used, and should be considered when optimising sheep management systems.

Maintaining the appeal of Australian lamb to the modern consumer

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1392 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Fowler ◽  
J. M. Hoban ◽  
G. Melville ◽  
D. W. Pethick ◽  
S. Morris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Nutritional Composition ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Retail Cuts ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact

Aligning the production of lamb cuts with consumer preferences is an ongoing challenge for the Australian lamb supply chain. In recent decades, genetic and on-farm management practices have improved, while the demographics of consumers and their consumption patterns have changed. This has resulted in larger traditional lamb cuts, which have less appeal to modern consumers. Therefore, research has been conducted to determine the potential to fabricate new value-added lamb cuts from heavier carcasses, determine consumer preferences for lamb roasts, investigate the impact of increasing carcass weight and fat depths on the production of value-added retail cuts and determine the nutritional composition of these cuts. In an effort to address these issues, a new value-added cut, the compact shoulder roast, was developed from the forequarter of the carcass to provide an option for retailers processing heavier lamb carcasses. A subsequent survey of consumer preferences highlighted that preferences for roast weight and size were affected by frequency of consumption, with daily consumers preferring the heaviest roasts and younger consumers preferring lighter roasts, implying the need for further fabrication, such as that required for the compact shoulder roast. However, the time taken to fabricate these value-added cuts increases with each kilo increase in carcass weight and decreasing saleable meat yield of lamb carcasses results as the degree of value-adding increases, indicating that a higher average price per kilo is required at retail. Subsequently, value-added cuts will need to be marketed on the basis of other product qualities such as nutritive value. However, profiling of lamb cuts has also shown that there is little data on the nutritive value of a range of lamb cuts, apart from the loin, so work has been undertaken to address this deficiency using grass-fed lamb through a major supply chain.

scholarly journals A study on housing management practices of dairy animals in the Varanasi district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satya Prakash Yadav ◽  
Vinod Kumar Paswan ◽  
Pankaj Kumar Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Housing Management ◽  
Dairy Animals ◽  
Animal House ◽  
Eastern Uttar Pradesh ◽  
On Farm

The study was carried out on 250 dairy farmers from 25 villages of Varanasi District on random basis distributed evenly through pre-tested questionnaire and and on farm personal visit and observation to identify various existing housing management practices adopted by the dairy farmers for their livestock. Results revealed that majority of the respondents (73.2 %) had their separate animal house located nearby their own house. A total of 60.8% of the farmers did not have optimum size of animal house and 61.6% did not have optimum floor space for their animals. Head to head system was preferred by the majority (44.4 %) of the respondents, tail to tail in 21.0% and 34.6% respondents were adopting single line housing system for their dairy animals. As for the floor of the animal house 35.2, 30.0 and 34.0% respondents had pucca cemented floor, brick paved floor and earthen floor, respectively. Roof of the animal house was made up of asbestos sheets, galvanised iron sheet and thatched roof in case of 58.8%, 12.4% and 28.8 % of respondents respectively. Whereas, majority (66.4%) respondents were using pucca (cemented) manger for feeding their animals; only 38.8 % of the respondents had provision of pucca drainage system. Although 53.2% had fairly good ventilation, only only 31.6% maintained proper cleanliness in their animal house. It was concluded that, dairy farmers of Varanasi district were not having optimum houses and they were not adopting proper scientific housing management practices for their dairy animals. Accordingly, it was revealed that there is a lot of scope for increasing productivity of animals and thereby, income of farmers from dairy animals by improving the housing parameters and housing management practices of dairy animals.

scholarly journals Pasture persistence: how much is it worth?

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
R. Brazendale ◽  
J.R. Bryant ◽  
M.G. Lambert ◽  
C.W. Holmes ◽  
T.J. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
System Model ◽  
Dry Matter Yield ◽  
Farm Profitability ◽  
Farm System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

The farm system model, Farmax Dairy Pro, was used to evaluate the impact of new pastures on dairy farm profitability, assuming a range of pasture yields and qualities, and different levels of persistence in the new pastures, which were established on 10% of the farm annually. Scenarios were tested for Waikato, Taranaki, Canterbury and Southland dairy farm systems. Assuming a $6.50/kg MS milk payment and a response to pasture renewal of 10% in dry matter yield and a 0.6 MJ ME/kg DM increase in quality, increasing persistence from 4 years up to 8 years was modelled to increase dairy farm profitability by $271/ha to $478/ha. Management practices, including selections of cultivars and endophytes, that improve pasture persistence are likely to increase dairy farm profitability. Keywords: dairy farms, modelling, pasture renewal, persistence

scholarly journals Determinants of the Acceptance of Sustainable Production Strategies in Conventional and Organic Dairying in Europe: An Empirical Analysis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Naspetti ◽  
Serena Mandolesi ◽  
Jeroen Buysse ◽  
Terhi Latvala ◽  
Philippa Nicholas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sustainable Production ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Alternative Protein ◽  
Production Strategies ◽  
The Impact

The goal of the study was to assess the farmers’ acceptance of three sustainable production strategies, namely ‘Agro-forestry’, ‘Alternative protein source’ and ‘Prolonged maternal feeding’. Data on the acceptance of these strategies were collected by a survey of dairy farmers in six EU countries (AT, BE, DK, FI, IT, UK). An extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was applied by means of Structural Equation Modelling to testing various hypotheses on attitudes and intentions of dairy farmers towards these novel production strategies, as well as the influence of organic practices and collaborative behaviours along the supply chain. We found that the most preferred strategy - across all countries - was soy substitution by alternative protein sources. We also found that the intention to adopt a sustainable production strategy may derive from the influence of opinions (and behaviours) of relevant others, showing the role of interactions among farmers and other stakeholders in the adoption of innovations. Finally, the perceived usefulness of all investigated strategies is higher for organic farmers, while collaborative patterns reduce the impact of subjective norm on usefulness and overall acceptance. Our findings should encourage policy makers to consider the important role of supply chain management practices, including collaboration, to enhance the sustainability of dairy farming systems.

scholarly journals A Survey of Farm Management Practices Relating to the Risk Factors, Prevalence, and Causes of Lamb Mortality in Ireland

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Dwayne Shiels ◽  
Jason Loughrey ◽  
Cathy M. Dwyer ◽  
Kevin Hanrahan ◽  
John F. Mee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Farm Survey ◽  
On Farm

Lamb mortality is a key factor influencing ewe productivity and profitability. The current study investigated risk factors associated with and management practices implemented on sheep farms to reduce lamb mortality. A survey consisting of 13 multiple-part questions (57 separate questions) was administered to all sheep farmers participating in the Teagasc National Farm Survey, representative of the Irish national population of sheep farms. A total of 60% of respondents identify mating or lambing date, and this practice tended to be associated with reduced lamb mortality (1.2%, p = 0.08). Individual lambing pens were used by 88% of farmers, but 26% did not clean or disinfect them. A total of 79% and 9.5% of farmers applied iodine to all lambs’ navels and administered antibiotics to all lambs to treat and/or prevent diseases, respectively. Most farmers vaccinated their ewes (86%) and lambs (79%) against clostridial diseases and/or pasteurellosis; 13% vaccinated against abortion agents. Lamb mortality tended to be lower (Kruskal–Wallis (KW) = 2.749; p = 0.09) on farms that used stomach tubing, heat box, iodine, hospital, and individual pens compared with farms that do not implement all those practices. Predators, lamb birth weight, and diseases were perceived by respondents to be the three main causes of live-born lamb mortality. The gross margin is significantly higher on lowland farms by €37 per ewe compared with hill farms (Kruskal–Wallis (KW) = 4.056; p < 0.001). The combination of full-time farming and the use of hospital and individual pens improved gross margin (€18/ewe, p = 0.028). It is concluded that on-farm management practices affect both lamb mortality and flock gross margin.

scholarly journals Assessing Performance Impacts in Food Retail Distribution Systems: A Stochastic Frontier Model Correcting for Sample Selection

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-389
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Park
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Model ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Food Retailer ◽  
Gross Margins ◽  
The Impact

A key organizational decision for retailers is whether to self-distribute or rely on a wholesaler-supplied network and yet little is known about the impact of this strategic choice on store-level productivity. We estimate a stochastic frontier model for food retailers that accounts for selectivity effects linked to the choice of distribution strategy. We find that adoption of data-sharing technologies has a positive impact on store-level gross margins of stores in self-distributing chains. Technical inefficiency among U.S. food retailers leads to a gross margin that is around $5,000 less for a conventional food retailer and about $7,670 less for a supercenter.

The role of riparian buffer management in reducing off-site impacts from grazed dairy systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Aarons ◽  
Cameron J. P. Gourley
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Buffer Management ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Dairy Systems

AbstractAgriculture in general and intensive animal production in particular can degrade the environment, especially as a consequence of the overuse of nutrients. Intensively grazed dairy systems, defined by the presence of foraging animals in the landscape, are often considered a more benign approach to dairy production with perceived smaller impacts due to the reduced requirement for manure disposal. However, grazing dairy cows contribute nutrients and pathogens in excreta, and sediment through landscape deformation. These impacts can dramatically increase in parts of the farm such as feeding, watering and sacrifice areas, laneways and night paddocks where animals are concentrated and spend a disproportionate amount of time. Other practices such as the disposal of dairy shed or dairy factory effluent and cultivation of fodder crops can also pollute the environment. A common approach to reduce nutrient, pathogen and sediment losses from dairy farms is to establish buffer zones in riparian areas that act as an interface between upland land use and waterways. This is generally done by fencing riparian areas to exclude stock and revegetating with understory and overstory species, with the aim of increasing infiltration, trapping sediment and decreasing contaminant losses from upland pastures. However, poorly designed and managed riparian areas may themselves contribute to further environmental degradation. Rarely is an integrated approach, including factors such as animal behavior and dairy farm management practices, as well as an analysis of landscape and riparian hydrology used in developing riparian management recommendations for individual farms. This paper reviews the threats posed by intensively grazed dairy systems, approaches to improve riparian zone management and recommends future research needs.

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