A Comparison of Animal-Related Figures in Milk and Meat Production and Economic Revenues from Milk and Animal Sales of Five Dairy Cattle Breeds Reared in Alps Region
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Italian Journal of Animal Science ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjas20 A comparison of animal-related figures in milk and meat production and economic revenues from milk and animal sales of five dairy cattle breeds reared in Alps region Thomas Zanon, Sven König & Matthias Gauly To cite this article: Thomas Zanon, Sven König & Matthias Gauly (2020) A comparison of animal- related figures in milk and meat production and economic revenues from milk and animal sales of five dairy cattle breeds reared in Alps region, Italian Journal of Animal Science, 19:1, 1318-1328, DOI: 10.1080/1828051X.2020.1839361 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2020.1839361 © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Published online: 09 Nov 2020. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 304 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjas20 ITALIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE 2020, VOL. 19, NO. 1, 1318–1328 https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2020.1839361 PAPER A comparison of animal-related figures in milk and meat production and economic revenues from milk and animal sales of five dairy cattle breeds reared in Alps region Thomas Zanona, Sven Konig€ b and Matthias Gaulya aFacolta di Scienze e Tecnologie, Free University of Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy; bInstitut fur€ Tierzucht und Haustiergenetik, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY The objective of this study was to compare animal-related figures in milk and meat production Received 12 May 2020 and economic revenues from milk and animal sales over the last decade of the five most-com- Revised 30 June 2020 mon dairy cattle breeds in South Tyrol. Auction prices and milk performance control data were Accepted 15 October 2020 considered to calculate milk sales, animal sales and total revenue per cow of the respective KEYWORDS breed between January 2009 and December 2019. Results highlight a stepwise substitution of Milk; beef; local breed; Brown Swiss breed by Simmental breed over the last decade. This is probably related to the dual-purpose; moun- greater animal sales and greater total revenue per cow thanks to the dual-purpose characteris- tain farming tics in latter. No significant trend towards the breed Holstein-Friesian was observed although cows of this breed were shown to produce the highest milk yield (MY) per lactation and gener- ated the highest total revenue per cow. Moreover, the local breeds Pinzgauer and Alpine Grey were able to compete in sense of importance as the number of cows remained mainly unaltered over the last decade. Thus, results indicate that although less productive, in sense of MY, local dual-purpose breeds seem to be of high interest for dairy farming systems in an alpine area as the decision for breeds is obviously not only driven by farm income. HIGHLIGHTS Holstein-Friesian is the most productive cattle breed considering milk production per lactation Simmental breed has a similar milk yield as Brown Swiss breed but received higher auction prices for calves and cull cows than latter Pinzgauer and Alpine Grey cows can compete with other breeds thanks to their dual-purpose characteristics, adaptability to alpine farming systems and additional subsidies Introduction Kuhl€ et al. 2020). Several studies have already com- pared the profitability of different cattle breeds. Mountain agriculture is characterised by small cultiva- tion areas with heterogenic features, which are dis- Gandini et al. (2007) concluded that Holstein-Friesian persed at different altitudes with different climates (HF) was more profitable in milk production systems and limited use for mechanisation (FAO 2019). due to higher milk yield (MY). However, while process- Likewise, there are different cattle breeds used in dif- ing milk of Reggiana cows to Parmeggiano-Reggiano ferent farming systems (Sturaro et al. 2009). Next to cheese and considering the compensation for endan- management and husbandry factors, it is believed that gered livestock breeds according to the regulation mainly the economic potential of a cattle breed plays (EU) 1698/2005 in the calculation for Reggiana breed, a decisive role, when deciding which breed is most latter was more economical than HF. Similarly, Pretto suitable for a farm. The latter depends on the fertility et al. (2009) showed a reduction of the difference in and health parameters as well as on milk production profitability between Burlina and HF cows when trans- and animal sales (calves, cull cows) (Evans et al. 2004; forming Burlina milk to Morlacco cheese, with the EU CONTACT Dr. Thomas Zanon [email protected]; Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Gauly [email protected] Facolta di Scienze e Tecnologie, Free University of Bolzano, Piazza Universita 5, I-39100 Bozen-Bolzano, Italy ß 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ITALIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE 1319 compensation for Burlina breed being included in that Breeders’ Association (AIA). Auction prices for prim- calculation. In Haiger and Knaus (2010) HF cows exhib- iparous cows of respective breed were provided by ited higher milk sales than Simmental (SI) cows, but the Brown Cattle Breeders Federation of Bolzano higher cull cow and bull calf prices for latter reduced Province (Sudtiroler€ Braunviehzuchtverband; Bolzano, the difference of profitability between the breeds. Italy) and the South Tyrolean Cattle Breeders’ Similarly, Evans et al. (2004) observed a higher profit- Association (Rinderzuchtverband Sudtirol;€ Bolzano, ability for dual-purpose breed Montbeliard compared Italy). Finally, auction price, weight at auction and to HF, due to lower restocking costs, greater beef rev- market value realised at calf and slaughter cattle auc- enue and greater milk sales due to higher fat and pro- tions were provided by the South Tyrolean Livestock tein content in milk. Kuhl€ et al. (2020) investigated Marketing Consortium (Kovieh; Bolzano, Italy). Calves profitability of dairy farms in South Tyrol and showed were sold at an age between 14 and 40 days. Average that local dual-purpose breed Alpine Grey (AG) could values for successful pregnancy followed by calving, compete with specialised dairy breed Brown Swiss (BS) days open, lactation length and gender distribution in terms of profitability. Dal Zotto et al. (2009) ana- among calves were calculated using national milk lysed the effects of crossbreeding with beef bulls on recording data, retrieved from the AIA, for each breed age, body weight, price and market value of calves on for corresponding year. The average gestation length South Tyrolean dairy farms, considering calf sales only, of respective breed was estimated considering the and stated higher revenues for dual-purpose and official limits of the ‘Rinderdatenverbund (RDV)’ for cross-bred animals. Nevertheless, no previous study Austria, used by the breeding organisation Austria has examined productive and economic parameters of (ZAR) (Kraßnitzer 2009). Restocking rate was estimated several cattle breeds over a longer period, which is, considering the number of primiparous cows in rela- however, an important evaluation criterion to assess tion to the total number of milk recorded cows for the development of their productivity and to estimate respective breed and year. Rearing losses were quanti- their economic potential for the future. Therefore, the fied at 9% (Zuccali et al. 2013). The number of calves aim of this study was to compare animal-related fig- per year was calculated considering the intercalving ures of milk and meat production and economic reve- period, the probability for successful pregnancy fol- nues from milk and animal sales of the five most-used lowed by calving and rearing losses. The number of cattle breeds in South Tyrol over a decade between potentially sold calves corresponded to the number of January 2009 and December 2019. The province of bull calves, as well as the number of cow calves not South Tyrol is in the north-eastern part of Italy and it used for restocking. The number of cull cows was is characterised by family-run small scale dairy farms determined considering the restocking rate for with on average 15 dairy cows (Province 2018). Two respective breed. The observation period was from thirds of all dairy farms in South Tyrol are run on a January 2009 to December 2019. Differences in feed- part-time basis. Eight percent of them are located ing practices, feed intake and -efficiency, labour costs, above 1000 m above sea level with almost half of the machine costs and veterinary treatment were not agricultural land having a slope inclination of more included in the assessment. than 30%. Nevertheless, dairy farming is still the most important economic pillar for 92% of the mountain farmers (Raiffeisen 2020). Estimation of total revenue The economic data are expressed in Euros (e) and Materials and methods Eurocents (c) and refer to the corresponding year (2009–2019). Milk sales per cow were calculated con- Data collection sidering the average milk price of Mila Bergmilch The economic assessment was carried out for the spe- Sudtirol,€ which is the largest dairy in the province of cialised dairy breeds BS, HF and for the dual-purpose Bolzano, considering all different price scenarios for breeds AG, Pinzgauer (PI) and SI, currently kept in different milk (conventional milk, hay-milk, organic South Tyrol (Northern Italy), considering averages for hay-milk, organic milk). Further, milk price was production and for economic parameters. Population adjusted according to the average milk composition figures of milk recorded cows and official statistics of (fat%, protein%) produced by each investigated cattle milk performance controls were retrieved from the breed in respective lactation and year.