How well are our dairy cows doing?

© TiHo

In three regions of Germany with intensive dairying, a team of researchers from Hannover, Berlin and Munich looked at animal health, husbandry, hygiene, feeding and biosecurity in dairy cows, young stock and calves. This study revealed major differences between the farms included. These reasons for these differences are twofold: regional particularities and farm size on the one hand, and the widely varying nature of farm management practised on the other. The veterinarians found many of the farms to be carefully managed with regard to the animals’ health.

These farms are benchmarks in terms of realistically achievable goals. They can serve as models for the substantial proportion of farms in which different aspects of sound agricultural practice were not adhered to. This has implications for animal health, with conditions such as lameness, calf diseases and metabolic disorders occurring here more frequently. Drawing on the study’s findings, the research team has developed options for action, both at political level and on the part of occupational groups that work on dairy farms.

Study entitled "PraeRi: animal health, hygiene and biosecurity in German dairy farms – a prevalence study"

Over a period of around three years, the researchers regularly visited 765 dairy farms in the following German federal states: Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony (northern region), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt (eastern region), and Bavaria (southern region). Alongside data on animal health, their study took into account numerous factors that may influence health either beneficially or adversely. Research was carried out by investigators at the veterinary training institution closest to a given farm: the Department for Cattle Health and the Institute of Biometrics, Epidemiology and Information Processing at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo); Freie Universität Berlin (FUB); and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich).

Federal-government funding

The cross-sectional study entitled ‘PraeRi: animal health, hygiene and biosecurity in German dairy farms – a prevalence study’ was supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The project-executing agency was the country’s Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE).

Final report available online

The final report (in German) can be viewed on both the BLE Internet site and the PraeRi web pages. Click on the following links:

service.ble.de/ptdb/index2.php?detail_id=47148&site_key=145&stichw=2&zeilenzahl_zaehler=598&NextRow=420

ibei.tiho-hannover.de/praeri/pages/69#_AB