Modelling animal health as a production factor in dairy production- a case of low somatic cell counts in Swedish dairy agriculture

Disease in livestock is an undesirable factor in the production process. It lowers the profit margins of the producers and causes unnecessary suffering to the animals. For dairy production, mastitis is the most common disease, which negatively affects animal welfare, increases production costs, and reduces milk yield. The purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of animal health on dairy production and to introduce a model that can be generally used to assess the effect of animal health on production. Empirical data were obtained from farm-level accounting data of a sample of 99 Swedish dairy producers combined with biological information of the dairy herds. A multiple regression analysis, applying both a Cobb-Douglas and a Translog functional form, was used to investigate how animal health affects production. Animal health was proxied by the inverse of the bulk tank somatic cell count, which is taken to reflect higher levels of animal health. The results suggest that animal health plays a significant role in the production process of dairy farming. The study illustrates how the production output may change when animal health is improved, through its impact on production function. The model developed in this study can be a useful tool for evidence-based counselling in order to help dairy farms become more efficient in their mastitis management process. The model and the approach taken here can also be useful for other livestock production systems to investigate how animal health affects production.