An ex ante analysis of the economic profitability of automatic oestrus detection devices in different dairy farming systems in France
2017
Bekara, Mohammed El Amine | Bareille, Nathalie | Bidan, F. | Allain, Clément | Disenhaus, Catherine
The reproductive performance of dairy herds is mainly influenced by the physiological reproductive status of the cows and by herd management. The objective of this work was to evaluate the economic benefits of investment in a sensor system for oestrus detection (pedometer or activity meter) in different dairy farming systems in France. A stochastic dynamic model was used to simulate all the physiological and management processes occurring in a dairy operation. Seven French dairy farms with different breeds (Holstein, Montbéliarde and Normande), size (30 to 119 cows), milk price (conventional or protected designation of origin) and calving strategies (grouped or continuous calving) were simulated. Six scenarios with different oestrus detection rates (50% before and 90% after use of the equipment) and percentage of cows equipped (40%-80%-100%) were applied to each farm. The internal rate of return was used to evaluate the economic benefits of the investment. It was estimated that the system for transmitting and analysing data from pedometer and activity meter systems would cost €6,498 and €4,430 respectively. The use of an automatic oestrus detection device reduced the calving interval by between 7d (herds with Normande cows) and 23d (herds with Holstein cows) and increased the annual gross margin per cow by between €8 (small herd with Normande cows) and €92 (herd with Montbéliarde cows). The investment appeared profitable in two-thirds of the situations, characterised by high milk prices, large herd size or low percentage of cows equipped. These results suggest that the return on investment should be estimated at each farm level.
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