INRAE, Oniris, BIOEPAR, 44300, Nantes, France.
INRAE, MaIAGE, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 14;11(1):1289. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79844-4.
The transport of weaned calves from cow-calf producers to fatteners is a general concern for the young bull industry due to its documented negative impact on the welfare, health and performance of the animals. These transfers are often managed by intermediaries who transport weaned calves to sorting centres, where they are grouped into batches before being sent to fattening units. In this study, we present an algorithm to limiting these transfer distances by appropriately selecting the sorting centre through which they must go. We tested the effectiveness of this algorithm on historical data from a French beef producer organization managing 136,892 transfers using 13 sorting centres. The results show a decrease in the transfer distances compared to the historical record, especially for the calves travelling over long distances (- 76 km, i.e. 18% on average for the 33% longest transfers). Moreover, the distribution of calves between the sorting centres proposed by the algorithm reveals differences in their efficiency in minimizing transfer distances. In addition to its usefulness as a management tool for the daily transport of cattle, this algorithm provides prospects for improving the management of the sorting centres themselves.
断奶小牛从奶牛-小牛生产者转移到育肥者是公牛产业普遍关注的问题，因为它对动物的福利、健康和性能有记录的负面影响。这些转移通常由中间商管理，他们将断奶小牛运送到分拣中心，在那里将它们分成批次，然后送往育肥单位。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种通过适当选择它们必须经过的分拣中心来限制这些转移距离的算法。我们使用 13 个分拣中心，对管理 136892 次转移的法国牛肉生产组织的历史数据进行了该算法的有效性测试。结果表明，与历史记录相比，转移距离有所减少，特别是对于长途运输的小牛（-76 公里，即 33%最长转移的平均 18%）。此外，算法提出的分拣中心之间的小牛分布差异表明，它们在最小化转移距离方面的效率存在差异。除了作为牛的日常运输管理工具的有用性之外，该算法还为改进分拣中心本身的管理提供了前景。
