The Management and Associated Costs of Rearing Heifers on UK Dairy Farms from Weaning to Conception
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Date
2015-07-09
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Scientific Research Publishing
Rights
Copyright © 2015 by authors
and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY)
Abstract
Dairy heifers only start to produce a return on investment at first calving. The length of the nonproductive
rearing period is largely governed by farmer decisions on plane of nutrition and reproduction
management. Primary data were collected from 101 dairy farms and a cost analysis
workbook developed to calculate individual inputs in each of three periods to determine which
management decisions and farm factors have the greatest influence on the total costs associated
with rearing. This paper covers weaning until conception. Heifers were weaned at 62 d (range 42 -
112 d) and conceived by 509 d (range 365 - 700 d) giving an average weaning to conception period
of 447 ± 60 d (range 253 to 630 d). The mean daily cost of rearing during this period was £1.65
(range £0.75 to £2.97 on different farms) giving a mean total cost of £745.94 per heifer (range
£295.32 to £1745.85). This large variation was mostly due to the duration, which was mainly determined
by age at first breeding (mean 476 days, range 365 - 700 d). The main contributors to
total costs were feed (35.6%), labour (24.7%) and bedding (8.9%). The variables most strongly
associated with the total costs were age at conception, calving pattern and breed. A multivariable
model predicted an increase in mean cost of £2.26 for each extra day in age at conception. The total
cost was highest in herds with all year round calving, intermediate in multi-block and lowest in
spring and autumn calving herds, with Friesian x and Jersey herds having the lowest cost of rearing.
Description
Keywords
Heifer, Cost Analysis, Sexed Semen
Citation
Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 2015, 5 (3), pp. 294 - 308 (14)