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Supporting German dairy farmers : establishing a monitoring system based on health key indicators extracted from existing control systems

  • German farmers are required by law to regularly self-assess the welfare of their animals. The project Q Check is aiming at developing a system that will assist farmers to objectively assess animal health and welfare in dairy cows. For this reason, a quarterly report will be compiled from animal-based key indicators to give an overview of the on-farm situation. The anonymised and aggregated reports can also be used for national animal welfare monitoring: Continuous collection of these key indicators enables the summary and publication of figures reflecting the current animal health and welfare status and progressions at federal state and at national level. Q Check is based on four data recording and analysis systems, which are already established in Germany and implemented on a national level. Out of these systems, the most suitable indicators to describe herd health have been selected by 215 experts within a twostage Delphi study. In addition, over 50 face-to-face interviews with stakeholders related to the German dairy sector have been performed in order to take into account the socio-scientific point of view. To complete the process, the selected indicators are currently being checked against mass data and hence tested for suitability regarding monitoring purposes. An automatic farm-specific evaluation of animal health, based on verified indicators, will provide support to farmers in fulfilling their legal requirements and in identifying weak points on the individual farms. A benchmarking system will be set up which will allow tracking the individual herd health indicators in the same farm in their course over time and compared with similar farms. These routinely provided horizontal and vertical statistics will facilitate targeted intervention and support objectified management decisions, implying that dairy farmers can benefit in several respects. In the course of the project, new tools for determining the risk of ketosis in the scope of milk recording will also be validated and implemented at national level to enhance monitoring of this major disease complex. The results of these nationwide, systematic investigations will contribute substantially to objectifying the discussion about the health and welfare situation of dairy cows.

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Author:S. Hachenberg, M. Au, B. Behr, J. Brinkmann, S. Carrasco, J. Duda, D. Doepfer, S. Gruber, Helena Karatassios, Matthias Kussin, R. Mansfeld, S. March, K.F. Stock, M. Tremblay, F. Onken
Title (English):Supporting German dairy farmers : establishing a monitoring system based on health key indicators extracted from existing control systems
URL:https://www.icar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ICAR-Technical-Series-24-Prague-2019-Proceedings.pdf
ISBN:92-95014-20-0
ISSN:1563-2504
Parent Title (English):New traits and adding new value to the recording and ID Services in the animal production
Document Type:Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Release Date:2023/11/22
Tag:Animal health; Animal welfare; German dairy sector; Key indicators; National monitoring system; Self-assessment
First Page:325
Last Page:328
Note:
43rd ICAR Conference, 17.06.-21.06.2019, Prague (Czech Republic)
Faculties:Fakultät AuL
DDC classes:600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 630 Landwirtschaft, Veterinärmedizin
Review Status:Veröffentlichte Fassung/Verlagsversion