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Precision dairy tools (PDT) can provide timely information on individual cow's physiological and behavioral parameters, which can lead to more efficient management of the dairy farm. Although the economic rationale behind the adoption of PDT has been extensively discussed in the literature, the socio-psychological aspects related to the adoption of these technologies have received far less attention. Therefore, this paper proposes a socio-psychological model that builds upon the theory of planned behavior and develops hypotheses regarding cognitive constructs, their interaction with the farmers' perceived risks and social networks, and their overall influence on adoption. These hypotheses are tested using a generalized structural equation model for (a) the adoption of automatic milking systems (AMS) on the farms and (b) the PDT that are usually adopted with the AMS. Results show that adoption of these technologies is affected directly by intention, and the effects of subjective norms, perceived control, and attitudes on adoption are mediated through intention. A unit increase in perceived control score is associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.05 and 0.19, respectively. Subjective norms are associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.009 and 0.05, respectively. These results suggest that perceived control exerts a stronger influence on adoption of AMS and PDT, particularly compared with their subjective norms. Technology-related social networks are associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.026 and 0.10, respectively. Perceived risks related to AMS and PDT negatively affect probability of adoption by 0.042 and 0.16, respectively, by having negative effects on attitudes, perceived self-confidence, and intentions. These results imply that integrating farmers within knowledge-sharing networks, minimizing perceived risks associated with these technologies, and enhancing farmers' confidence in their ability to use these technologies can significantly enhance uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding consumers' purchase behaviors is fundamental to the success of the dairy industry. With its economic importance, the Chinese market is critical to dairy producers in most countries around the world. However, understanding consumers in this market is particularly challenging, as these consumers often have a different relationship with dairy products than consumers elsewhere in the world, given the country's historical dairy-related scandals. This special relationship can be characterized by what consumer behavior researchers call "high involvement," indicating that Chinese dairy consumers often attempt to reduce the level of risk associated with buying dairy products. Surprisingly, although this relationship affects several important aspects of purchase behavior, examination of the concept of involvement in the dairy sector has not been widely considered. Of note, there is no understanding of how Chinese consumers vary in their involvement levels and their implications on their dairy purchase behaviors. Nor have there been involvement-based insights provided on how dairy companies can position their marketing strategy to suit the needs of these consumers better. Thus, this study proposes a new approach to understanding Chinese consumer dairy decisions by introducing "consumer involvement" as a segmentation tool through which individuals' behaviors can be predicated according to their involvement profile. Based on an online survey administered in Shanghai using 1,073 dairy consumers, principal component analysis confirmed involvement with dairy is a multidimensional construct with the following 4 factors: pleasure value, symbolic value, risk importance, and risk probability. A 2-step cluster analysis identified 4 consumer clusters based on their involvement profile: face-concerned dairy lover, carefree dairy consumer, cautious dairy lover, and confused dairy consumer. According to a one-way ANOVA test and cross-tabulation with χ2 test, these consumer segments behave differently in relation to the extensiveness of decision making, cue utilization, trust of information sources, and consumption behavior. The outcomes in this paper further explain why efforts to restore consumer trust for dairy products do not work among some consumers, as individuals may exhibit diverse attitudes toward such information due to their heterogeneous involvement levels. The study also provides suggestions for market practitioners and organizations to develop effective target market strategies and policies according to different consumer clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enteric fermentation from dairy cows is a major source of methane. Significantly and rapidly reducing those emissions would be a powerful lever to mitigate climate change. For a given productivity level, introducing fodder with high sources of n-3 content, such as grass or linseed, in the feed ration of dairy cows both improves the milk nutritional profile and reduces enteric methane emissions per liter. Changing cows' diet may represent additional costs for dairy farmers and calls for the implementation of payments for environmental services to support the transition. This paper analyzes 2 design elements influencing the effectiveness of a payment conditioned toward the reduction of enteric methane emissions: (1) the choice of emission indicator capturing the effect of farmers' practices, and (2) the payment amount relative to the additional milk production costs incurred. Using representative farm-level economic data from the French farm accountancy data network, we compare enteric methane emissions per liter of milk calculated with an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 method, to baseline emissions from a Tier 3 method accounting for diet effects. We also quantify the additional milk production costs of integrating more grass in the fodder systems by estimating variable cost functions for different dairy systems in France. Our results show the relevance of using an emission indicator sensitive to diet effects, and that the significance and direction of the additional costs for producing milk with a diet containing more grass differ according to the production basin and the current share of grasslands in the fodder crop rotation. We emphasize the importance of developing payments for environmental services with well-defined environmental indicators accounting for the technical problems addressed, and the need to better characterize heterogeneous funding requirements for supporting a large-scale adoption of more environment-friendly practices by farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dairy farmer's decision to cull or keep dairy cows is likely a complex decision based on animal health and farm management practices. The present paper investigated the relationship between cow longevity and animal health, and between longevity and farm investments, while controlling for farm-specific characteristics and animal management practices, by using Swedish dairy farm and production data for the period 2009 to 2018. We used the ordinary least square and unconditional quantile regression model to perform mean-based and heterogeneous-based analysis, respectively. Findings from the study indicate that, on average, animal health has a negative but insignificant effect on dairy herd longevity. This implies that culling is predominantly done for other reasons than poor health status. Investment in farm infrastructure has a positive and significant effect on dairy herd longevity. The investment in farm infrastructure creates room for new or superior recruitment heifers without the need to cull existing dairy cows. Production variables that prolong dairy cow longevity include higher milk yield and an extended calving interval. Findings from this study imply that the relatively short longevity of dairy cows in Sweden compared with some dairy producing countries is not a result of problems with health and welfare. Rather, dairy cow longevity in Sweden hinges on the farmers' investment decisions, farm-specific characteristics and animal management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between management practices and antimicrobial use in heifer calves on Canadian dairy farms. Questionnaires on calf management practices, herd characteristics, and calf treatment records were administered on 147 dairy farms in 5 provinces during annual farm visits in a multiyear, nationwide research project (Canadian Dairy Network for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance: CaDNetASR). Questions focused on the calf caregiver, calving pen, colostrum management, milk feeding, grouping, bedding management, and age when male calves were sold. Antimicrobial treatment records were collected on each farm from either an electronic herd management system or paper-based records. Newborn heifers born in the last 12 mo were identified retrospectively and followed to 60 d of age, with antimicrobial treatments and dates of sale or death extracted for further analysis. A multivariable linear regression model was developed with the natural log of the number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year as the dependent variable, and categorized calf management practices and farm characteristics as the independent variables. A complete data set of records on 7,817 calves was retrieved from 74 farms based on completeness of calf records. A total of 2,310 calves were treated at least once with an antimicrobial, and 7,307 individual antimicrobial treatments were recorded. Among the reasons for antimicrobial use, respiratory disease (54%) was most common, followed by diarrhea (20%), presence of a fever (3%), and umbilical disease (2%). Florfenicol (33% of recorded treatments), penicillin (23%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (18%) were commonly used, whereas fluoroquinolones (4%), and ceftiofur (1%) were used less commonly. Farms (31%) commonly had 0–1.0 antimicrobial treatments/calf-year (median: 2.2 treatments/calf-year; interquartile range: 0.64–6.43 treatments/calf-year). Defined daily dose (DDD) per calf-year was calculated based on the Canadian bovine standards. Among the 74 farms, florfenicol (1.35 DDD/calf-year) and macrolides (0.73 DDD/calf-year) were used most, whereas ceftiofur (0.008 DDD/calf-year) was the lowest. The final multivariable linear regression model indicated that farms that fed transition milk had fewer than half the number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year than those who did not feed transition milk. The number of antimicrobial treatments per calf-year in preweaning calves was low on many farms, and there was low use of highly important drugs for human medicine. The effect of feeding transition milk should be investigated regarding potential effects on antimicrobial use and disease prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]