Improving cost-efficiency and profitability Helping dairy farmers to improve economic performance utilizing data-driven DSS tools Victor E. Cabrera University of Wisconsin-Madison Supported by several USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hatch USDA Grants from College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison 67 th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science, Belfast UK, 29 Aug - 2 Sep 2016
Rationale - dairy farming decision-making Highly dynamic Always changing policies prices climate environment weather cows economics crops soils management Highly integrated Interrelated components
Successful dairy farming decision-making Meaningful DATA Records Decision Support Systems DSS Tools Integrated System Approach
Outline - description Describe DSS development DairyMGT.info > 40 DSS tools assist dairy farm decision makers decision-making and problem solving describe sample tools by management area Methods no single or special combination adaptation empirical
Outline - description Overarching goal farm specific user-friendly scientifically sound relevant throughout time Providing answers fast concrete simple relevant
Outline - description Innovative DSS tools many areas of dairy farm management practical and real-life applications impact documentation DSS tools performance Vision for the future new technologies opportunities chalenges
> 40 tools
Decision support tools Farm-specific assessments Every farm is different Farm conditions change Decisions should adjust Market conditions change permanently Prices and cost impact decisions Applications should be user-friendly Still scientifically sound and robust
Elements of Decision Support Tools UW-Dairy Management Category Name Short description Link Supplementary documentation Video demonstration
FeedVal Actual value of dairy feed ingredients
farm specific DATA referee NUTRIENTS ingredients nutrients prices DATA PRICES daily for midwest US as reference
market PRICE ACTUAL price REFEREE ingredients (market price) VALUE good or bad ingredient purchases
SPECIFIC location & time BEST purchases WORST purchases NON- REFEREE ingredients CALCULATED prices
Economic Value of Sexed Semen Value of using sexed semen on dairy heifers
farm specific reproductive performance DATA EXPECTED performance with sexed semen ADDITIONAL production and economic information
best DECISIONS overall VALUE SCENARIOS plausible for a farm
Wisconsin-Cornell Dairy Repro$ Value of specific reproductive programs
farm specific DATA
test ALTERNATIVE strategies farm specific reproductive detailed DATA required additional specific DATA
case study in WI estimated whole herd: $188,000/year dec14 jul15
Integrated Genomic Testing Tool Value of using genomic testing on heifer calves
Herd DATA
farm specific DATA visual display DATA replacements AVAILABLE
farm specific DATA net profit OPTIMIZED net profit CUSTOMIZE D animals to TEST
The Economic Value of a Dairy Cow Projected net return of a cow vs. replacement
COW REPLACEMENT farm & herd specific DATA HERD ECONOMICS
COW VALUE VALUE components cow specific RESULTS HERD structure HERD net return
The value of a cow 1.204 1.107 1.011 1 2 3 4 Value of a new pregnancy (e.g., US$ 222 (628-406) Cost of a pregnancy loss (e.g., US$323 (488-165) Cost of a day open (e.g., US$5.2 (704-549)/(120-90) Effect of 10% increased productivity in future lactations Economic value of a cow, $ 914 818 721 625 529 432 336 239 143 46 (50) 3 Average non-pregnant 4 1 2 Average pregnant @ 120 DIM 10% higher producer non-pregnant 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 Days after second calving
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A vision for the future Keep up with the needs INTEGRATION cows crops heifers hardware software financial environmental TECHNOLOGY tablets smartphones sensors monitors AMS precision feeding FUNCTIONALITY beyond record keeping decision-making artificial intelligence
Thanks 2011 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.