Abstract

PATERNINA-ACOSTA, Carol; RUIZ-MEZA, José  and  HERNANDEZ-MENDO, Omar. Feed costs analysis and reduction associated with dairy production in a semi-specialized bovine system using AHP method. Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.2, e1699.  Epub May 01, 2021. ISSN 0122-8706.  https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta.vol22_num2_art:1699.

Milk production is an important line within the agricultural sector and the economy of a country. In Mexico, the contribution of the agricultural sector to the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 4.2%, with a 30.2 % livestock share. This type of production has several improved systems to increase the profit rate. However, it is necessary to know the production costs associated with feeding cattle in terms of dry matter consumed. In this paper, we analyzed the variable feeding costs within the milk production process for high and low producing cows in a semi-specialized bovine system. We carried out diagnosis and information gathering processes, bromatological and milk production analyses, calculation of associated costs, and finally, the evaluation of cost reduction under the multi-criteria methodology of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Feeding costs associated with forage, silage, and concentrate feed were calculated, reaching 20.3 % and 21.9 % of the total income from milk sales for groups of cows with high and low production, respectively. We determined that the cost reduction strategy that generates better results in terms of productivity criteria, efficiency, environment, and financial factors corresponds to the elaboration of different diets according to the milk production rate. The savings associated with this strategy demonstrate the potential to lower annual feeding costs by up to USD 444 for the cows under study.

Keywords : analytic hierarchical process; bovines; dairy production; livestock feeding; production costs.

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