Smallholder dairy farms (SDFs) are distributed widely across lowland and highland regions in Vietnam, but data on the productivity and welfare status of these cows remains limited. This cross-sectional study was conducted to describe and compare the...
Selective dry-cow therapy (SDCT) became mandatory in Italy on 28 January 2022. During 2020, a group of farms involved in a milk quality program began a pilot experiment with SDCT in order to understand its challenges and to identify areas for procedu...
The objective of this study was to assess the relative importance of herbage nutritive value (NV), herbage quantity and climate-related factors in determining daily performance per cow in a pasture-based dairy farm. Data on milk production, live weig...
The concept of animal welfare (AW) has many meanings. Traditionally, AW has been considered as freedom from disease and suffering. Nowadays, growing attention goes to the concept of “positive animal welfare” (PAW), which can be interpreted within the...
To better analyze the health and welfare of individual dairy cows, this study proposes BR-Tracker, a multi-object tracking method designed for dense monitoring environments to address missed detections, tracking failures, and frequent identity switch...
Climate change is increasing the frequency of heat stress events in dairy farming, adversely affecting milk production, milk composition, cow behavior, and animal health. However, many previous studies relied on distant weather-station data and low-f...
Accurate prediction of the estrus period is crucial for optimizing insemination efficiency and reducing costs in animal husbandry, a vital sector for global food production. Precise estrus period determination is essential to avoid economic losses, s...
This study investigated the accuracy of a near-infrared spectroscopic sensing system for predicting milk quality indicators in cow milk. The system determined three major milk quality indicators (milk fat, protein, and lactose), milk urea nitrogen (M...
In order to study the smart management of dairy farms, this study combined Internet of Things (IoT) technology and dairy farm daily management to form an intelligent dairy farm sensor network and set up a smart dairy farm system (SDFS), which could p...
Dairy farms are growing in several areas of the world, with consequent need for a modernization of milking equipment. The objective of this research is to evaluate milking parlors in current and future situations in modern farms. Several Italian farm...
The use of methane fermentation in mesophilic conditions for the energy use of cow manure and additional co-substrates from the farm can bring a small dairy farm (140 dairy cows) financial benefits of up to EUR 114,159 per year. Taking into account t...
Longevity is a key determinant of economic efficiency and sustainability in dairy cattle production. The study evaluated longevity and lifetime productivity traits in red breed (RB) and Holstein breed (HB) dairy cows in Latvia and assessed the effect...
In this paper, we examine the changes in the structural, economic and managerial characteristics of dairy cow farms during their shift towards a new business model that operates under a highly intensified system. Based on farm accounting data from Gr...
The aim of the publication was to analyze investments in biogas plants with a cogeneration unit for an average size dairy farm. The basis for the calculation was the use of cow manure as the only substrate in methane fermentation. The economic balanc...
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of major public health concern in India. Bovines play an important role in maintaining and transmitting this disease and proximity between dairy cows and humans makes the dairy cow-human nexus a transmission route...
Background: In China’s expanding dairy industry, a lack of oversight regarding antimicrobial use and increasing antimicrobial resistance are evident. Selective treatments of dairy cows for clinical mastitis or dry cow therapy are proposed to pr...
A crucial area of research in farm dairy production involves evaluating and comparing different milking systems. By comparing a wide range of milking equipment used in dairy farms, it is possible to identify trends in changes in milking efficiency wi...
Specific animal-based indicators that can be used to predict animal welfare have been the core of protocols for assessing the welfare of farm animals, such as those produced by the Welfare Quality project. At the same time, the contribution of techno...
The large-scale and precise intelligent breeding mode for dairy cows is the main direction for the development of the dairy industry. Machine vision has become an important technological means for the intelligent breeding of dairy cows due to its non...
A targeted survey was designed with the aim of describing the diffusion of precision livestock farming (PLF) tools in one of the most intensive dairy farming provinces in Italy. Technicians at the Provincial Breeder Association of Cremona interviewed...
Selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) has emerged as a key strategy to reduce antimicrobial use in dairy production while maintaining udder health. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and impact of implementing SDCT in Romanian dairy farms by com...
Attitudes toward practical dairy cow welfare issues were evaluated based on a questionnaire answered by 500 dairy farm workers and 27 veterinary practitioners. Primarily, the effect of demographic characteristics on attitudes toward cattle welfare wa...
The health and productivity of dairy cows are critical factors in sustainable livestock management. Along with the rapid rise in intelligence and technology, applying intelligence in livestock management helps in monitoring and provide precise and ef...
Extensive summer grazing is a dairy herd management practice frequently adopted in mountainous areas. Nowadays, this activity is threatened by its high labour demand, but it is fundamental for environmental, touristic and economic implications, as we...
Feral cattle (Bos taurus) live in socially stable herds. Due to farm management practices, intensively managed dairy cows experience frequent regrouping, which can disrupt affiliative bonds and induce social stress. This study examines how changes in...
Reversing climate change requires broad, cohesive, and strategic plans for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from animal farming. The implementation and evaluation of such plans demand accurate and accessible methods for monitoring on-field...
The present study assessed dairy cow welfare through the application of the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Center (CReNBA) checklist in 36 dairy farms located in Ragusa (Italy) subjected to two different management conditions, housing with...
In this paper, the nutritional quality, digestibility, and chemical composition of major feed types as well as the use of those feeds in rations by medium-scale dairy farmers in the Kurunegala district of Sri Lanka were studied. Nine dairy farms were...
This survey investigated, using robotic milking and rumen sensors, the effects of an adjusted temperature–humidity index (THI) in different geographical areas on milk yield, fat and protein, rumen temperature, and activity in lactating Holstein...
Salmonella isolated from dairy farms has a significant effect on animal health and productivity. Different serogroups of Salmonella affect both human and bovine cattle causing illness in both reservoirs. Dairy cows and calves can be silent Salmonella...
Accurate and non-invasive monitoring of dairy cows is a cornerstone of precision livestock farming, paving the way for proactive health management and earlier disease detection. The development of robust, AI-driven diagnostic tools, however, is hinde...
This study introduces a non-contact, single-target method for real-time monitoring of dairy cow calving posture and behavior using the YOLOv8 model. In total, 600 videos were collected, from which 10,544 image samples were extracted through frame-by-...
Climate change is accompanied by temperatures exceeding the thermal comfort zone of dairy cows, resulting in numerous consequences for production and welfare. Early detection of heat load enables taking countermeasures and can be realized using monit...
Accurate dairy cow behavior recognition is important for health monitoring, welfare assessment, and early warning in smart livestock farming. However, recognizing fine-grained behaviors such as feeding, drinking, and rumination remains difficult in r...
Metabolic disorders are a key problem in the transition period of dairy cows and often appear before the onset of further health problems. They mainly derive from difficulties the animals have in adapting to changes and disturbances occurring both ou...
This study gives an overview of the performance and accuracy of devices used for the fast measurement of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) in blood for the on-farm indication of subclinical ketosis. Data were collected on ten dairy farms. In each farm, blood...
Metritis is one of the most common postpartum diseases in dairy cows, associated with impaired reproductive performance and substantial economic losses. In this study, we investigated the potential of machine learning (ML) techniques applied to physi...
Dairy farming is increasingly affected by the digital revolution. To respond to current challenges—such as environmental, economic, and social sustainability—new technologies must be adopted, entering the perspective of precision livestock farming. T...
In precision dairy farming, computer vision-based approaches have been widely employed to monitor the cattle conditions (e.g., the physical, physiology, health and welfare). To this end, the accurate and effective identification of individual cow is...
Achieving accurate cattle detection in complex barn environments is a critical technical challenge for smart livestock farming. Cattle exhibit highly similar appearances, severe occlusion, and significant multi-scale variations, making it difficult f...
The aim of this review is to provide dairy farm advisors, consultants, nutritionists, practitioners, and their dairy farmer clients with an additional toolkit that can be used in the assessment of the quality of their dairy cattle nutrition. Cow sign...
Protocols for assessing the welfare of dairy cows in large scale intensive dairy systems in the developed world have been used extensively. Little attention has been paid to the use of similar welfare assessment protocols for small dairy enterprises...
In the Netherlands, around 52,000 dairy cows die on the primary farm each year due to natural death, euthanasia, or on-farm emergency slaughter (OFES). The decision as to what is the best option is made by the farmer, often after consulting a veterin...
High-yielding lactating cows generate considerable internal heat, making thermoregulation challenging in warm conditions. Traditionally, sprinkler systems have cooled dairy cows by spraying water droplets onto their skin to aid heat dissipation, espe...
Dairy farming activities produce waste that can have a negative impact on the environment. The processing of livestock waste will reduce pollution and support environmental conservation programs that are currently being intensified by the West Java P...
Farmers frequently face the decision to retain or replace dairy cows, with 20% to 40% of cows replaced annually. In Switzerland, this translates to over 100,000 cows replaced each year, representing a significant financial investment for farms and th...
Lameness in dairy cows poses a significant challenge to improving animal well-being and optimizing economic efficiency in the dairy industry. To address this, employing automated animal surveillance for early lameness detection and prevention through...
This study aimed at determining the extent to which the deviation of daily total metabolizable energy (MEt) requirements of individual cows from the metabolizable energy (ME) supplied per cow (DME) varied throughout the production season in a pasture...
Milk production plays an essential role in the global economy. With the development of herds and farming systems, the collection of fine-scale data to enhance efficiency and decision-making on dairy farms still faces challenges. The behavior of anima...
In the present work, the prevalence, etiological factors and effective treatment scheme of mastitis in cows of dairy farms “Balke” and “Madi-R” in Eastern Kazakhstan were investigated. In total, 210 heads were investigated on...
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