This document discusses the economics of cow comfort and investing in cow cooling systems. It presents information on key aspects of cow comfort like proper resting areas, ventilation, and stall requirements. Poor cow comfort can negatively impact production and health. The document then analyzes the costs and benefits of different levels of investment in freestall remodeling and cow cooling systems using case studies and a developed investment analysis tool. The tool shows that investing in cow cooling, especially for high humidity regions, can have a positive net present value and benefit-cost ratio, indicating it is a good economic investment even with modest increases in milk production.

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

19. Vary Investment Level

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

25. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

26. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

27. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

28. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

29. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

30. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

31. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

32. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

33. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afsdairy/DairyHousingInvestment

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