Author(s): Miroslav Záhradník, Ján Pokrivčák, Marián Tóth
Title: Modelling the Milk Production and Economics in a Dairy Farm
Source: International Scientific Days 2018 :: Towards Productive, Sustainable and Resilient Global Agriculture and Food Systems :: Proceedings
ISBN: 978-80-7598-180-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/isd2018.s13.10
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer ČR, Prague
PY, pages: 2018, 2502-2517
Published on-line: 2018-11-09
Language: eng
Abstract: The paper focuses on factors affecting the economics of milk production based on
modelling future effects of present managerial decisions. Using the innovative interactive
decision tool we identify key future economics of a dairy farm based on relevant
data of herd structures in Slovakia. We introduce EkonMOD milk tool assisting
dairy farm managers in Slovakia to better understand the dynamics of the herd
structure and to improve the interpretation of economically sensible decision-making
on key variables as well as trade-offs respecting the farm´s specific limitations
along with carbon footprint mitigation agenda.
We evaluate a sample dairy farm from the economic and performance indicator
datasets of the NPPC, referring to semi-intensive dairy farm. If the age at first calving
is reduced from 30 down to 24 months, the dairy could expect additional heifers
for potential sale, growth, or culling pressure on the lactating herd. This scenario
means that in the first two years heifer development is emphasized, expenses in feed
and management are decreased by 47,520 € per year, and 53,750 € worth of heifers
are sold, bringing the total potential income for those two years to 101,270 €. The
reduction of Age at first calving (AFC) in the what-if scenario 1 also reduced the
number of heifers needed for replacement from 290 to 269 heifers, also having the
positive impact on the profitability resulting from this interrelations. In the what-if
scenario 2 the AFC remained the same as in what-if scenario 1 (also the culling
rates for the first and next lactation cows) meaning that the number of replacements
needed was without any change.
Keywords: dairy farm, milk, decision tool, production
JEL Classification: Q02, Q12, O31
Rights:Open Access :: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 International Licence
Toto dielo je publikované pod/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
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