Impact of udder health on economics of dairy goat

Abstract

The impact of udder health on the economics of dairy farms of White Shorthaired goat was investigated using the program ECOWEIGHT. Impact on the farm economics (profit in €/goat/year and profitability in %) was analysed indirectly thought variation in the level of production traits (-10%) along with the variation in the labour and veterinary costs of a goat (+10%). Variation in production level (given in brackets) resulted to decreasing of annual revenues of a goat e.g. by 90 € (milk yield), 30 € (fat content), 16 € (conception rate), 20 € (litter size). The appropriate change in the costs ranged from -17 € to 17 € when milk yield and conception rate was evaluated. The profitability of the system was deteriorated by 4 p.p. to 19 p.p. when litter size and cumulated change of all inputs was applied. In the last mentioned variant the production was declined (-58 kg of milk sold, -0.21 kids born), unfavourable change in the flock structure (+4 females/100 goats for replacement) and in the lifetime of goats (-0.5 year) was found. Indirect economic consequences of udder health problems are high and can be defined more properly when a comprehensive data for the breed will be available.

Keywords

• costs
• goat milk
• profitability
• revenues
• somatic cell score