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Animals
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Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability
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Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal System and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 22359

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Sergio C. Garcia

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Guest Editor
Sydney Institute of Agriculture, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Interests: forages; ruminant nutrition; feeding; dairy cow; robotics and technology/automation in dairying
Dr. Cameron Clark

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Livestock Welfare Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
Interests: animal behavior and welfare; data-driven agriculture; advanced livestock
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Rafiq Islam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Interests: livestock production system; animal nutrition; forages; food security
Dr. Sabrina Lomax

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Interests: animal welfare; animal pain; pain management in livestock; pain measurement; pharmacology of pain management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dairy farmers around the world are facing unprecedented challenges to produce milk, included increased costs, climate variability and extreme weather events; competition for resources and markets; and changing community expectations due to climate change, animal health and welfare, and public health issues.

In this context, the question of how dairy production systems, whether intensive or extensive, indoor or  pasture-based, conventional or robotic, or any of the existing variants within these; will evolve or adapt to address these challenges, is more relevant than ever. The focus of this special edition revolves around that question.

We invite original manuscripts on any aspect concerning the efficiency, profitability, application of technology and sustainability of all types of dairy production systems.

In particular, studies that focus on overcoming limitation/s of production systems or that address aspects that may differentiate systems or increase their competitiveness (e.g. animal productivity and welfare, efficiency; environmental impact; application of technology; and factors affecting profitability), are welcome.

Prof. Sergio C. Garcia
Dr. Cameron Clark
Dr. Rafiq Islam
Dr. Sabrina Lomax
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Dairy Production Systems
  • Pasture-based systems
  • Indoor-dairy systems, Conventional milking
  • Automatic milking
  • Extensive/intensive dairy systems
  • Farm profitability
  • Climate change
  • Animal welfare
  • Dairy systems competitiveness

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1286 KiB  
Article
Milk, Fertility and Udder Health Performance of Purebred Holstein and Three-Breed Rotational Crossbred Cows within French Farms: Insights on the Benefits of Functional Diversity
by Julien Quénon and Marie-Angélina Magne
Animals 2021, 11(12), 3414; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11123414 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2307
Abstract
Using three-breed rotational crossbreeding in a purebred Holstein (HO) herd raises two questions: Do the different genetic classes of cows generated by crossbreeding perform differently? Are there any economic benefits of combining them within a herd? This study aimed at comparing the performance [...] Read more.
Using three-breed rotational crossbreeding in a purebred Holstein (HO) herd raises two questions: Do the different genetic classes of cows generated by crossbreeding perform differently? Are there any economic benefits of combining them within a herd? This study aimed at comparing the performance between the different genetic classes resulting from the use of three-breed rotational crossbreeding, and simulating the effect of combining them on herd profitability. Based on a dataset of 14 French commercial dairy herds using three-bred rotational crossbreeding from a HO herd over a 10-year period, we defined three genetic classes according to the theoretical value of heterosis and the percentage of HO genes. We performed linear models and estimated least square means to compare HO cows and the first and second generation of crosses (F1 and G2, respectively) on eight performance characteristics related to milk yield and solids, udder health and fertility. We used these to simulate profitability of five herd compositions differing according to HO, F1 and G2 proportions. We showed that HO, F1 and G2 cows had different and complementary performance profiles. HO had a win-lost trade-off between milk yield and fertility, G2 had the opposite trade-off and F1 had a win-win trade-off. Differences regarding milk solids and udder health were less clear-cut. We highlighted that combining HO with F1 or with both F1 and G2 (below 30%) could be more profitable than using purebred HO or crossbred herds in a conventional milk price scenario. These findings provide evidence on the benefits of functional diversity generated from the use of dairy crossbreeding in dairy herds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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31 pages, 6096 KiB  
Article
Revisiting the Relationships between Fat-to-Protein Ratio in Milk and Energy Balance in Dairy Cows of Different Parities, and at Different Stages of Lactation
by Edward H. Cabezas-Garcia, Alan W. Gordon, Finbar J. Mulligan and Conrad P. Ferris
Animals 2021, 11(11), 3256; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113256 - 14 Nov 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3787
Abstract
A statistical re-assessment of aggregated individual cow data was conducted to examine trends in fat-to-protein ratio in milk (FPR), and relationships between FPR and energy balance (EB, MJ of ME/day) in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows of different parities, and at different stages of lactation. [...] Read more.
A statistical re-assessment of aggregated individual cow data was conducted to examine trends in fat-to-protein ratio in milk (FPR), and relationships between FPR and energy balance (EB, MJ of ME/day) in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows of different parities, and at different stages of lactation. The data were collected from 27 long-term production trials conducted between 1996 and 2016 at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. In total, 1321 lactations (1 to 20 weeks in milk; WIM), derived from 840 individual cows fed mainly grass silage-based diets, were included in the analysis. The energy balance was calculated daily and then averaged weekly for statistical analyses. Data were further split in 4 wk. intervals, namely, 1–4, 5–8, 9–12, 13–16, and 17–20 WIM, and both partial correlations and linear regressions (mixed models) established between the mean FPR and EB during these periods. Three FPR score categories (‘Low’ FPR, <1.0; ‘Normal’ FPR, 1.0–1.5; ‘High’ FPR, >1.5) were adopted and the performance and EB indicators within each category were compared. As expected, multiparous cows experienced a greater negative EB compared to primiparous cows, due to their higher milk production relative to DMI. Relatively minor differences in milk fat and protein content resulted in large differences in FPR curves. Second lactation cows displayed the lowest weekly FPR, and this trend was aligned with smaller BW losses and lower concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) until at least 8 WIM. Partial correlations between FPR and EB were negative, and ‘greatest’ in early lactation (1–4 WIM; r = −0.38 on average), and gradually decreased as lactation progressed across all parities (17–20 WIM; r = −0.14 on average). With increasing parity, daily EB values tended to become more negative per unit of FPR. In primiparous cows, regression slopes between FPR and EB differed between 1–4 and 5–8 WIM (−54.6 vs. −47.5 MJ of ME/day), while differences in second lactation cows tended towards significance (−57.2 vs. −64.4 MJ of ME/day). Irrespective of the lactation number, after 9–12 WIM, there was a consistent trend for the slope of the linear relationships between FPR and EB to decrease as lactation progressed, with this likely reflecting the decreasing milk nutrient demands of the growing calf. The incidence of ‘High’ FPR scores was greatest during 1–4 WIM, and decreased as lactation progressed. ‘High’ FPR scores were associated with increased energy-corrected milk (ECM) yields across all parities and stages of lactation, and with smaller BW gains and increasing concentrations (log transformed) of blood metabolites (non-esterified fatty acid, NEFA; beta-hydroxybutyrate, BHB) until 8 WIM. Results from the present study highlight the strong relationships between FPR in milk, physiological changes, and EB profiles during early lactation. However, while FPR can provide an indication of EB at a herd level, the large cow-to-cow variation indicates that FPR cannot be used as a robust indicator of EB at an individual cow level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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15 pages, 660 KiB  
Article
Does Small-Scale Livestock Production Use a High Technological Level to Survive? Evidence from Dairy Production in Northeast-ern Michoacán, Mexico
by Luis Manuel Chávez-Pérez, Ramón Soriano-Robles, Valentín Efrén Espinosa-Ortiz, Mauricio Miguel-Estrada, María Camila Rendón-Rendón and Randy Alexis Jiménez-Jiménez
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2546; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092546 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2369
Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify the technological level used by dairy farmers in the northeastern region of Michoacán, Mexico, through a characterisation of small-scale dairy production units, as well as to learn about the socioeconomic conditions that have enabled them [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to identify the technological level used by dairy farmers in the northeastern region of Michoacán, Mexico, through a characterisation of small-scale dairy production units, as well as to learn about the socioeconomic conditions that have enabled them to survive in the current context. A semi-structured interview was applied to 114 production units, chosen by stratified random sampling. The interview included technological, production and socioeconomic aspects. Twenty-eight variables were initially explored and 12 were used for multivariate analysis, which included Principal Component Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and K-means Cluster. The characterisation carried out showed that the production units that predominate in northeastern Michoacán have survived with a low technological level, having as strengths the diversification of their activities and the use of family labour. On the contrary, production units with a high technological level and high productivity are few and less diversified. This shows the need to generate differentiated public policies for each cluster, aimed at strengthening the aspects that have allowed them to survive and guaranteeing a market for their production, before promoting the use of technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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18 pages, 2212 KiB  
Article
Predicting Immediate Marginal Milk Responses and Evaluating the Economics of Two-Variable Input Tactical Feeding Decisions in Grazing Dairy Cows
by Joanna W. Heard, Murray C. Hannah, Christie K. M. Ho and William J. Wales
Animals 2021, 11(7), 1920; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11071920 - 28 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1880
Abstract
Feed is the largest variable cost for dairy farms in Australia, and dairy farmers are faced with the challenge of profitably feeding their cows in situations where there is significant variation in input costs and milk price. In theory, the addition of 5.2 [...] Read more.
Feed is the largest variable cost for dairy farms in Australia, and dairy farmers are faced with the challenge of profitably feeding their cows in situations where there is significant variation in input costs and milk price. In theory, the addition of 5.2 MJ of metabolisable energy to a lactating cow’s diet should be capable of supporting an increase in milk production of one litre of milk of 4.0% fat, 3.2% protein and 4.9% lactose. However, this is almost never seen in practice, due to competition for energy from other processes (e.g., body tissue gain), forage substitution, associative effects and imbalances in rumen fermentation. Pasture species, stage of maturity, pasture mass, allowance and intake, stage of lactation, cow body condition and type of supplement can all affect the milk protein plus fat production response to additional feed consumed by grazing dairy cows. We developed a model to predict marginal milk protein plus fat response/kg DM intake when lactating dairy cows consume concentrates and pasture + forages. Data from peer reviewed published experiments undertaken in Australia were collated into a database. Meta-analysis techniques were applied to the data and a two-variable quadratic polynomial production function was developed. Production economic theory was used to estimate the level of output for given quantities of input, the marginal physical productivity of each input, the isoquants for any specified level of output and the optimal input combination for given costs and prices of inputs and output. The application of the model and economic overlay was demonstrated using four scenarios based on a farm in Gippsland, Victoria. Given that feed accounts for the largest input cost in dairying, allocation of pasture and supplements that are based on better estimates of marginal milk responses to supplements should deliver increased profit from either savings in feed costs, or in some cases, increased output to approach the point where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. Such data are critical if the industry is to take advantage of the opportunities to use supplements to improve both productivity and profitability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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11 pages, 2033 KiB  
Article
Economic Analysis of Offering Different Herbage Allowances to Dairy Cows Fed a Partial Mixed Ration
by Christie K. M. Ho, Martin J. Auldist, Marlie M. Wright, Leah C. Marett, Bill Malcolm and William J. Wales
Animals 2021, 11(6), 1704; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061704 - 7 Jun 2021
Viewed by 4151
Abstract
The economics of grazing dairy cows offered a range of herbage allowances and fed supplements as a partial mixed ration (PMR) were examined where profit was defined as the margin between total milk income and the cost of pasture plus PMR supplement. The [...] Read more.
The economics of grazing dairy cows offered a range of herbage allowances and fed supplements as a partial mixed ration (PMR) were examined where profit was defined as the margin between total milk income and the cost of pasture plus PMR supplement. The analysis made use of milk production and feed intake data from two dairy cow nutrition experiments, one in early lactation and the other in late lactation. In early lactation and at a PMR intake of 6 kg DM/cow per day, the profit from the cows with access to a medium herbage allowance (25 kg DM/cow per day) was AUD 1.40/cow per day higher than that for cows on a low allowance (15 kg DM/cow per day). At a higher PMR intake of 14 kg DM/cow per day, the profit from the cows on a medium herbage allowance was AUD 0.45/cow per day higher than the cows on a low allowance; there was no additional profit from increasing the herbage allowance from medium to high (40 kg DM/cow per day). In late lactation, the profit from the cows fed a PMR with a medium herbage allowance (20 kg DM/cow per day) was only higher than the cows on a low allowance (12 kg DM/cow per day) when the PMR intake was between 6 and 12 kg DM/cow per day. There was also a difference of AUD +0.50/cow per day between the PMR with medium and high herbage allowance (32 kg DM/cow per day). It was concluded that farmers who feed a PMR to dairy cows should offer at least a medium herbage allowance to optimize profit. While feeding additional PMR increases milk production and profit, further gains would be available by offering a higher herbage allowance. These findings provide an estimate of the net benefits of different herbage allowances when feeding a PMR and will enable farmers to manage their feeding systems more profitably. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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10 pages, 1184 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Age at First Lambing on Milk Yield and Lactation Length in a Population of Istrian Sheep under Semi-Intensive Management
by Ante Kasap, Jelena Ramljak, Boro Mioč, Valentino Držaić, Ivan Širić, Darko Jurković and Marija Špehar
Animals 2021, 11(6), 1604; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061604 - 29 May 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4428
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the impact of ewe’s age at first lambing (AFL) on days in milk (DIM), average daily milk yield (DMY), and total milk yield (TMY). Symmetrical bimodal distribution of AFL enabled classification of maidens in those mated in the [...] Read more.
This study aimed to examine the impact of ewe’s age at first lambing (AFL) on days in milk (DIM), average daily milk yield (DMY), and total milk yield (TMY). Symmetrical bimodal distribution of AFL enabled classification of maidens in those mated in the first (47%) or second year of life (53%). After accounting for all available sources of phenotypic variability with the linear mixed model for repeated records, it was estimated that AFL had a statistically significant effect only on DIM (p < 0.001). The litter size had a significant effect only on TMY (p < 0.001), while the effect of the parity was significant for all the examined traits (p < 0.001). The results of the study suggest that prolongation of age at first mating to the second year of life is not justified in dairy-orientated sheep farms. However, more evidence on this issue is needed for generalization, especially considering some other traits that can impact profitability of dual-purpose sheep farms (reproduction traits, growth rate of lambs, etc.). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dairy Production Systems: Efficiency, Profitability, Technology and Sustainability)
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