Supporting the Development and Adoption of Automatic Lameness Detection Systems in Dairy Cattle: Effect of System Cost and Performance on Potential Market Shares
by
Tim Van De Gucht 1,2,*
, Stephanie Van Weyenberg 1, Annelies Van Nuffel 1, Ludwig Lauwers 3,4, Jürgen Vangeyte 1 and Wouter Saeys 2
Tim Van De Gucht 1,2,*, Stephanie Van Weyenberg 1, Annelies Van Nuffel 1, Ludwig Lauwers 3,4, Jürgen Vangeyte 1 and Wouter Saeys 2
1
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research—ILVO, Technology and Food Sciences Unit, Burg, van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
2
KU Leuven Department of Biosystems, MeBioS, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 Box 2456, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
3
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research—ILVO, Social Sciences Unit, Burg, van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
4
Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bio-Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2017, 7(10), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani7100077
Received: 5 July 2017 / Revised: 19 September 2017 / Accepted: 28 September 2017 / Published: 8 October 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biotechnology in Animals' Management, Health and Welfare)
Most automatic lameness detection system prototypes have not yet been commercialized, and are hence not yet adopted in practice. Therefore, the objective of this study was to simulate the effect of detection performance (percentage missed lame cows and percentage false alarms) and system cost on the potential market share of three automatic lameness detection systems relative to visual detection: a system attached to the cow, a walkover system, and a camera system. Simulations were done using a utility model derived from survey responses obtained from dairy farmers in Flanders, Belgium. Overall, systems attached to the cow had the largest market potential, but were still not competitive with visual detection. Increasing the detection performance or lowering the system cost led to higher market shares for automatic systems at the expense of visual detection. The willingness to pay for extra performance was €2.57 per % less missed lame cows, €1.65 per % less false alerts, and €12.7 for lame leg indication, respectively. The presented results could be exploited by system designers to determine the effect of adjustments to the technology on a system’s potential adoption rate.
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Keywords:
adoption rate; market share; willingness to pay; willingness to adopt; automatic lameness detection; discrete choice experiment
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MDPI and ACS Style
Van De Gucht, T.; Van Weyenberg, S.; Van Nuffel, A.; Lauwers, L.; Vangeyte, J.; Saeys, W. Supporting the Development and Adoption of Automatic Lameness Detection Systems in Dairy Cattle: Effect of System Cost and Performance on Potential Market Shares. Animals 2017, 7, 77.
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