Economics of Cow Comfort
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In this presentation, the economics of investing in cow comfort in dairy facilities are discussed.
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Economics of Cow Comfort
- 1. Economics of Cow Comfort Jeffrey Bewley, PhD, PAS
- 2. What is Cow Comfort? Minimizing all stress factors in order to maximize milk production
- 3. Five Keys to Cow Comfort 1.Clean, Dry, Comfortable Resting Area 2.Confident, Injury-Free Flooring 3.Proper Ventilation 4.Heat Stress Relief 5.Unobstructed Access to Feed and Water
- 4. Costs of Poor Cow Comfort • Lost production • Lost milk quality bonuses • Increased lameness costs • Decreased longevity (culling costs) • Increased veterinary costs • Decreased reproductive performance • Increased labor costs • Reduced animal well-being
- 5. Lying Time • Cows need to spend 12 + hours per day resting!!!! • Cows actually prioritize rest over eating • Hard when they spend: – 5 to 5.5 hours eating – 2 to 4 hours interacting with other cows – 2.5 to 3.5 hours outside of the pen – 30 minutes drinking • Give cows as much opportunity to lie down in a comfortable environment as possible
- 6. Stall Requirements • Clean, comfortable resting place • Easy to enter and exit/Stand up and lie down • Freedom from injury • Minimize labor • Long lasting
- 7. Suggested Freestall Dimensions Animal Weight (lbs) Total Stall Length Closed Front (in) Total Stall Length Open Front (in) Length to Brisket Tube or Board (in) Length to Neck Rail (in) Stall Width Center to Center (in) Height to Top of Partition (in) Height to Neck Rail (in) Brisket Board or Tube Height (in) LSC LSO LB LN WS HP HN HB 900-1100 90-96 78-82 64-66 62-64 41-43 42-44 42-44 4-6 1100-1300 96-102 80-86 66-68 64-66 43-45 44-46 44-46 4-6 1300-1500 102-108 90-96 68-70 66-68 45-48 46-48 46-48 4-6 1500-1700 108-114 96-102 70-72 68-70 48-52 48-52 48-52 4-6 Dan McFarland, Design Considerations for Dairy Cattle Freestalls
- 8. Maintaining Freestalls • Bed every 1 to 3 days • Groom stalls to ↑ cow cleanliness (2 to 3 times daily) • Clean alleys (less manure tracked in) • Minimize overcrowding • Maintain adequate bedding – 2” with mattresses – 4” without mattresses • Listen to the cows!
- 9. Bedding and Lying Time Tucker and Weary, Journal of Dairy Science, 2004 87:2889-2895
- 10. Biggest Freestall Problems Perching • Usually improper neck rail placement Diagonal lying • Improper neck rail or brisket board placement, inadequate lunge space Hock injuries • Inadequate space, hard surface, inadequate bedding Poor stall use • All of the above plus lack of lunge space , stalls too short, poorly maintained stalls
- 11. Freestall Flipping: Level 1 Maintenance and Upkeep 1. Use more of that bedding 2. Fix those broken stalls 3. Pick up that rake 4. Clean those alleys 5. Count your cows 6. Now, count your stalls
- 12. Freestall Flipping: Level 2 Low Investment with Some Elbow Grease 1. Remove those lunging obstacles 2. Raise that neck rail 3. Move that neck rail forward or backward 4. Shorten that brisket board 5. Examine that freestall dimension chart
- 13. Freestall Flipping: Level 3 Worthwhile Investments 1. Increase those stall widths and lengths 2. Change those curb heights (shorter or higher) 3. Replace those bedding surfaces 4. Call that fan/sprinkler salesperson 5. Replace those freestall loops 6. Add that rubber flooring 7. Raise that roof
- 14. Freestall Flipping: Level 4 Bulldoze and Rebuild 1. Tear down old barn 2. Buy/request design plans 3. Visit other new barns 4. Build wide-open barns 5. Use proper dimensions 6. Use sand, waterbeds, or good mattresses 7. Rubber flooring
- 15. Simplified Economics • Conservative estimates • Examine only milk production increase • At some level, it all comes back to milk • Ignore all disease, labor, milk quality considerations • Those are big benefits too
- 16. Assumptions • Modifying existing facilities • 100 cows milking year-round • 2 pound daily milk yield increase • $12/cwt milk price • 3 year investment horizon • $5000 investment • 1/3 of milk revenue increase is used to pay for additional feed to produce that milk
- 17. Vary Milk Yield Increase ($10,000) $0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 NetIncomeGain Pounds of Milk Per Day Increase
- 18. Vary Milk Price
- 20. Breakeven Milk Yield by Investment Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000 $7,000 $8,000 $9,000 $10,000 $11,000 $12,000 $13,000 $14,000 $15,000 $16,000 $17,000 $18,000 $19,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 BreakevenMilkYield Milk Price
- 21. Wisconsin Case Study A • 800 cow herd • Changed from mattresses to sand • Remodeled stalls • Increased milk yield by 3 pounds/cow/day • Decreased turnover from 30 to 18% • Reduced SCC from 220,000 to 162,000 • Net Impact=$114,629 • Investment Payback=1.5 years
- 22. Wisconsin Case Study B • 1200 cow herd • Changed from mattresses to sand • Remodeled stalls • Increased milk yield by 3 pounds/cow/day • Decreased turnover from 38 to 24% • Reduced SCC from 222,000 to 206,000 • Net Impact=$170,973 • Investment Payback=2.3 years
- 23. Wisconsin Case Study B • 190 cow herd • Stayed with mattresses • Remodeled stalls (bigger, new loops, mattresses) • Increased milk yield by 3 pounds/cow/day • Reduced SCC from 339,000 to 229,000 • Net Impact=$30,789 • Investment Payback=3.2 years
- 24. Wisconsin Case Study D • 300 cow herd • Stayed with mattresses • Remodeled stalls (bigger, new loops, mattresses) • Increased milk yield by 14 pounds/cow/day • Decreased turnover from 48 to 38% • Reduced SCC from 285,000 to 191,000 • No economic data provided
- 34. A cow cooling investment decision support tool for dairy farms in low and high humidity regions B. S. Kawonga and J.M. Bewley
- 35. Introduction • Heat stress is a major source of economic loss on dairy farms • $800 million annual loss for US dairy industry (St-Pierre, 2003) • 15% reduced milk production (De Vries 2004) • 51% reduced reproductive performance (Flamenbaum and Galon, 2010) – $167/cow/year
- 36. Introduction • Benefits of heat stress management; – Increased feed intake, milk yield and cow comfort (St-Pierre et al., 2003) • Few studies done on economic loss (St-Pierre et al., 2003) and benefits of investment in cow cooling
- 37. Objectives • To develop an interactive cow cooling investment decision support tool for dairy farms • To demonstrate the economic benefits of investing in cow cooling
- 38. Materials and Methods • Data for two humidity regions – Low humidity region ~Sub-Saharan Africa with THI of 68 to 72 – High humidity region ~temperate regions • Tool developed using dashboard – User inputs – model outputs
- 39. Model outputs • Investment analysis – Net present value (NPV): Present value of cash inflows minus present value of cash outflows – Benefit: Cost ratio (BCR) • Productive performance – Milk production (St-Pierre, 2003, Hartner et al., 1999)
- 40. Model assumptions • Economic benefits extend to periods of low heat stress • Sprinkler system: feed line, holding area, and exit area from parlor • 5 year life expectancy for cooling system (Harner et al., 1999)
- 41. Farm inputs and assumptions Model Input Estimate Reference Herd size 100 Model assumption Milk price $0.36/kg $0.34/kg USDA, April 2015 NSO, 2015 Milk yield 33.1 kg/cow/d 17.3 kg/cow/d USDA, April 2015 DAHLD, June 2015 Feed cost $0.21/kg $0.65/kg DM USDA, 2015 DAHLD, 2015 Cooling system investment cost $3860 $ 4560 Model assumption
- 42. Farm inputs and model assumptions Model input Estimate Reference Cooling system installation cost $33.5/cow $ 65.0/cow Turner et al., 2014 Model assumption Heat stress days 100 d Harner, et al., 1999, Turner et al., 1999 Sprinkler operating hours 8-12 h Hartner, 1999 Water cost (25¢/100 gallon) 1 ¢/cow/d Model assumption Electricity cost (6.5¢ kWh 1¢/cow/d Model assumption
- 43. Farm inputs and model assumptions Model input Estimate Reference Feed intake increase 2-5 kg/cow/d Hartner, 1999 Milk production increase 5-10 % Turner et al., 1999 Increase in net income 15-30 cents/cow/d Turner, 1999 Discount rate 8% Bewley et al., 2010 Tax rate 0.30 Model assumption
- 44. Cow cooling investment analysis tool Information tabs Users guide
- 45. Sample investment analysis • Low humidity region : Malawi • High humidity region: Kentucky • 50 cow herd size (DAHLD, 2014) • 10 year investment horizon – Good investment: BCR>1 , NPV ≥ 0
- 46. Sample investment analysis • Initial cooling system investment cost • Low humidity: $3860 • High humidity: $ 4560 • Feed cost • Low humidity: $0.65/cow/d • High humidity:$0.21/cow/d
- 47. Sample investment analysis • Electricity and water costs • Low humidity: 5¢ /cow/d • High humidity: 2 ¢ /cow/d • Predicted increase in milk production • Low humidity: 5% • High humidity: 10%
- 48. Results and Discussion • Cow cooling in a high humidity region had a greater NPV ($54,653) compared to a low humidity region ($26,520) • Attributed to high operating and initial investment cost for low humidity region • BCR greater than 1 for all the regions, indicating a good investment scenario
- 49. Conclusions • Cow comfort is essential to dairy survivability • Existing barns can be improved dramatically • Options vary depending on setup • Improvements in cow comfort pay – Even with • $12 milk • Only 2 pound increase in milk yield • Small herds • Sizable investments
- 50. Questions? Jeffrey Bewley, PhD, PAS jbewley@bovisync.com jbewley@cowfocused.com