Publications by authors named "Francis Edwardes"
Article Synopsis
- Suboptimal mobility (SOM) in dairy cows leads to significant economic losses, primarily due to delayed treatment of mild cases, which often go unnoticed until routine hoof trimming.
- The study aimed to assess the economic benefits of automatic SOM detection sensors compared to traditional methods, using a bioeconomic simulation model to analyze farm performance with and without these sensors.
- Results indicated that sensor performance, management strategies, and alert prioritization significantly impacted the economic outcomes, with some scenarios yielding up to €6,360 in annual benefits, suggesting a shift towards sensor-assisted management could be advantageous.
Hoof disorders and sub-optimal mobility (SOM) are economically important health issues in dairy farming. Although the dynamics of hoof disorders have an important effect on cow mobility, they have not been considered in previous simulation models that estimate the economic loss of SOM. Furthermore, these models do not consider the varying severities of SOM.
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