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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
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Toto dielo je publikované pod/This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.