Abstract
Context: Advances in automated oestrus detection have made this an attractive technology to help reduce manual oestrus detection labour on dairy farms. Aims: A decision-support tool was created to help farmers estimate the investment outcome of adopting automated oestrus detection technologies in a seasonal dairy production system. Methods: A decision-support tool was created using Excel 2011 (Microsoft Inc., Redmond, WA, USA). The tool allows farmers to input both current herd reproductive management costs and performance and automated oestrus detection technology system costs and performance to receive herd-specific estimates of investment benefit. The investment analysis outputs include the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period associated with automated oestrus detection adoption. Two different automated oestrus detection technologies were compared with visual oestrus detection aided by tail paint with a 72.0% oestrus detection rate (sensitivity) to demonstrate the value of the investment analysis tool. The alternative scenarios, technology one and technology two, were compared over an eight-year investment period. Key results: Technology one, with a 62.4% oestrus detection rate, resulted in a negative NPV and IRR (-NZ$182 567 and -100% respectively), indicating a poor investment. Technology two, with an oestrus detection rate of 91.0%, provided a positive NPV and IRR (NZ$177 890 and 38.7% respectively), indicating a beneficial investment. The payback period for technology one was estimated as >10 years, whereas technology two's payback period was <1 year. Conclusions: The investment tool results are dependent on farm-specific and automated oestrus detection inputs. Implications: Farmers can use farm-specific inputs in the tool to aid them when considering adoption of new automated oestrus detection technologies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2280-2287 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Animal Production Science |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© CSIRO 2019 Open Access.
Keywords
- precision dairy farming
- precision dairy monitoring
- seasonal dairying
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science
- Animal Science and Zoology