Efficiency Check - Herd management tool for animal welfare

Dairy farms are highly complex systems and farmers are confronted with many different facts and figures taken from varying information sources. Therefore, it is very difficult to optimize their tool chains and workflows for an optimal profitability in milk production. 

In this context a project was set up in order to define dairy farmers’ needs with regards to analytical tools; set up data interfaces for collecting the required information on-farm; and develop a model establishing linkages between management, animal housing conditions, animal health, and profitability. The project also included the development of a web application for dairy farmers to visualize this linkage by analysing their own herds and to find ways to improve health and efficiency on their farm.