Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production
Farm animal diseases affect livestock production in several different ways. From an economic perspective, diseases are an undesirable contribution to the production process. Diseases thereby lower the producer's profit margins by reducing animal health and causing unnecessary suffering to the animal...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A1E |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2019
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| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14194/ |
| _version_ | 1855572370151964672 |
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| author | Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra |
| author_browse | Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra |
| author_facet | Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra |
| author_sort | Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Farm animal diseases affect livestock production in several different ways. From an economic perspective, diseases are an undesirable contribution to the production process. Diseases thereby lower the producer's profit margins by reducing animal health and causing unnecessary suffering to the animals. For dairy production, mastitis is the most severe disease and causes both reduced animal health, increased costs, and reduced milk yield. Subclinical mastitis can be recognized by an increase in the somatic cell count (SCC), which is, therefore, often used as an indicator of udder health and milk quality.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how animal health affects the production by presenting a general model that can be used to estimate the effect of animal health on production. Modelling animal health as a production factor has not been done in previous studies, which makes the analysis in this thesis unique.
A quantitative methodology with a deductive theory approach was applied, and microeconomic theories regarding production and animal health economics formed the theoretical framework. A broad literature review was performed regarding reduced animal health in different livestock production systems, in order to be able to develop generalized knowledge regarding how animal health affects production. The study is based on secondary data from Växa Sverige and consisted of both biological- and economic outcomes from 99 dairy farms.
Data were analyzed in SPSS and STATA by multiple regression analysis where both a Cobb-Douglas production function and a translog production function were used. On the basis of the results of this study, it can be concluded that animal health has a statistically significant effect on production. Through the results, Swedish dairy producers can estimate whether investments in improved animal health are worth the cost that is added. The developed model can also be generalized and used for other livestock production systems to investigate how animal health affects production |
| format | Second cycle, A1E |
| id | RepoSLU14194 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU141942020-06-04T12:17:52Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14194/ Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra Animal husbandry Economics and management Farm animal diseases affect livestock production in several different ways. From an economic perspective, diseases are an undesirable contribution to the production process. Diseases thereby lower the producer's profit margins by reducing animal health and causing unnecessary suffering to the animals. For dairy production, mastitis is the most severe disease and causes both reduced animal health, increased costs, and reduced milk yield. Subclinical mastitis can be recognized by an increase in the somatic cell count (SCC), which is, therefore, often used as an indicator of udder health and milk quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate how animal health affects the production by presenting a general model that can be used to estimate the effect of animal health on production. Modelling animal health as a production factor has not been done in previous studies, which makes the analysis in this thesis unique. A quantitative methodology with a deductive theory approach was applied, and microeconomic theories regarding production and animal health economics formed the theoretical framework. A broad literature review was performed regarding reduced animal health in different livestock production systems, in order to be able to develop generalized knowledge regarding how animal health affects production. The study is based on secondary data from Växa Sverige and consisted of both biological- and economic outcomes from 99 dairy farms. Data were analyzed in SPSS and STATA by multiple regression analysis where both a Cobb-Douglas production function and a translog production function were used. On the basis of the results of this study, it can be concluded that animal health has a statistically significant effect on production. Through the results, Swedish dairy producers can estimate whether investments in improved animal health are worth the cost that is added. The developed model can also be generalized and used for other livestock production systems to investigate how animal health affects production Sjukdomar hos lantbruksdjur drabbar animalieproduktionen på flertalet olika sätt. Från ett ekonomiskt perspektiv utgör sjukdomar ett oönskat bidrag i produktionsprocessen genom att minska producentens vinstmarginaler och orsaka onödigt lidande för djuren. För mjölkproduktionen är mastit den allvarligaste sjukdomen och orsakar både reducerad djurhälsa, ökade kostnader och minskad mjölkavkastning. Subklinisk mastit visar sig genom ökning av det somatiska celltalet (SCC) som av den anledningen används som indikator för juverhälsa och mjölkkvalitet. Syftet med det här examensarbetet var att undersöka hur djurhälsa påverkar produktionen genom att utveckla en allmän modell som kan användas för att uppskatta effekterna av djurhälsa på produktionen. Att modellera djurhälsa som en produktionsfaktor har inte gjorts i tidigare studier vilket gör analysen i detta examensarbete unik. En kvantitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats har använts där mikroekonomiska teorier har används som referensram för att testa hur djurhälsa påverkar produktionen. Vidare genomfördes en bred litteraturgenomgång gällande reducerad djurhälsa hos andra typer av produktionsinriktningar. Detta för att kunna ta fram generaliserad kunskap om hur djurhälsa påverkar produktionen i allmänhet. Studien baseras på sekundärdata från Växa Sverige och bestod av både biologiska fakta samt ekonomiskt utfall från 99 mjölkgårdar. Data analyserades i SPSS och STATA genom multipel regressionsanalys där både en Cobb-Douglas produktionsfunktion samt translog produktionsfunktion användes för att estimera effekten av djurhälsa. Resultaten visade att djurhälsa har en statistiskt signifikant effekt på produktionsfunktionen. Genom resultaten kan svenska mjölkproducenter estimera om investeringar i förbättrad djurhälsa är värt kostnaden som tillkommer. Modellen som utvecklades kan även generaliseras och användas till andra produktionsinriktningar för att undersöka hur djurhälsa påverkar produktionen för dessa djurslag, genom att anpassa variabeln för djurhälsa till sjukdomar som förekommer för de djurslagen. 2019-02-11 Second cycle, A1E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14194/1/telldahl_c_190211.pdf Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra, 2019. Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production : a case of Swedish dairy agriculture. Second cycle, A1E. Uppsala: (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Economics <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-510.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-10189 eng |
| spellingShingle | Animal husbandry Economics and management Bjelkelöv Telldahl, Cassandra Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title | Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title_full | Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title_fullStr | Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title_short | Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| title_sort | modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production |
| topic | Animal husbandry Economics and management |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14194/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14194/ |