Development of a Profitability Analysis Prototype with Multidimensional Benchmarks for Dairy Herds

The prototype of an information visualisation tool was developed using combined information from the Que´bec and Atlantic Provinces Dairy Production Centre of Expertise (Valacta Inc.) and the Quebec Animal Health Records (DSAHR Inc.), with the objective of presenting cumulative lifetime-profit results, and the factors that affect them, thereby facilitating the process of analysing and comparing results at the dairy-herd and individual-cow levels. The information visualisation prototype created benchmarking curves with the possibility to evaluate current profitability at the herd and individual-cow level, and also to monitor the effect of historical decisions and events on the future components of profit. The user is presented with a herd analysis that compares its profit evolution to those of selected cohorts. These values are calculated from the accumulation of average daily profit estimates by herd or cohort. At the individual-cow level, lifetime profit curves are presents that include the effects of health and breeding-service costs among others. It is hoped that this prototype may demonstrate the value, to Dairy Herd Improvement agencies, of analysing and visualizing existing and potential profitability at the herd level, and lifetime analysis at the individual cow level.