Rilanto Triin, Viidu Dagni-Alice, Kaart Tanel, Orro Toomas, Viltrop Arvo, Emanuelson Ulf, Ferguson Eamonn, Mõtus Kerli
Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia.
Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia.
Res Vet Sci. 2021 Nov 24;142:31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.11.006.
The farmer has the central role in determining cow culling policies on their farm and thus affecting cow longevity. The present study aimed to examine farm managers´ satisfaction, attitudes, personality traits and analyse the associations with dairy cow culling and longevity in large commercial dairy farms. Farm managers of 116 dairy herds rearing at least 100 cows in freestall barns were included. A questionnaire for the farm managers registered personal background information of respondent and included statements capturing their satisfaction, opinions and attitudes regarding dairy cow culling and longevity, farming in general, and a Ten Item Personality Inventory scoring. For each herd, the last 12 months cow culling rate (CR, excluding dairy sale) and herd mean age of culled cows (MAofCC) was obtained from the Estonian Livestock Performance Recording Ltd. A K-mean clustering algorithm was applied to subgroup farm managers based on their attitudes, opinions and personality traits. The yearly mean herd CR was 33.0% and MAofCC was 60.6 months. Farm managers´ were mostly dissatisfied with cow longevity and culling rates in their farms. Dissatisfaction with culling rates and longevity, priority for producing high milk yields over longevity and production-oriented attitude was associated with high culling rates and poor longevity. Farm managers' personality had an effect on herd culling rates and their attitudes explained one third of the variability of culling rates and longevity. Explaining the economic consequences of high culling rates and decreased longevity, improving the visibility of these parameters together with benchmarking could bring these issues into focus.
农民在决定其农场的奶牛淘汰政策从而影响奶牛寿命方面起着核心作用。本研究旨在调查农场管理者的满意度、态度、个性特征，并分析其与大型商业奶牛场奶牛淘汰和寿命的关联。研究纳入了116个在自由牛舍饲养至少100头奶牛的奶牛场的农场管理者。一份针对农场管理者的问卷记录了受访者的个人背景信息，其中包括一些陈述，用以了解他们对奶牛淘汰和寿命、总体养殖情况的满意度、看法和态度，以及一份十项人格量表得分。对于每个牛群，从爱沙尼亚牲畜性能记录有限公司获取了过去12个月的奶牛淘汰率（CR，不包括出售奶牛）和淘汰奶牛的牛群平均年龄（MAofCC）。基于他们的态度、看法和个性特征，应用K均值聚类算法对农场管理者进行分组。年平均牛群淘汰率为33.0%，淘汰奶牛的平均年龄为60.6个月。农场管理者大多对其农场中奶牛的寿命和淘汰率不满意。对淘汰率和寿命不满意、将高产奶量置于寿命之上的优先考虑以及以生产为导向的态度与高淘汰率和低寿命相关。农场管理者的个性对牛群淘汰率有影响，他们的态度解释了淘汰率和寿命变异性的三分之一。解释高淘汰率和寿命缩短的经济后果，连同基准化一起提高这些参数的可见性，可能会使这些问题得到关注。
