Replacement policies for dairy cows

A.T.G. McArthur

Agricultural Economics and Marketing Department, Lincoln College, Canterbury

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1985, 45: 39-42

A simulation model of dairy herds was built to examine the economic consequences of alternative culling policies. Only culling cows on the basis of their first lactation was examined because previous studies had show that it is not worthwhile acquiring more information before making the culling decision. The simulation model shows that the culling decision is sensitive to the ratio of cull salvage value to replacement cost. At a ratio of 0.7, a third of first lactation cows should be culled. Used optimally to make replacement decisions, herd testing is worthwhile particularly if the less expensive alternate month test is used.

Keywords: NZSAPAB; Dairy cows; replacement policies; culling; modelling; herd testing

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Last Updated 03-05-1997