Dairy farmer

Overview

This page will help you as a Dairy farmer to discover how SimHerd can help you in your decision making process.

What is SimHerd? 

SimHerd was orignally developed at Aarhus University in Denmark. It is a large simulation model that can calculate all aspects of a dairy herd. All our calculations are herd specific, based on real herd data. The SimHerd Expert model runs a simulation on each cow in the herd over a 10-year period, these results are summarized for the whole herd and replicated 100 times to ensure that the results are valid. 


SimHerd Expert simulates 
among other things the cows: 

  • Milk yield 
  • Feed intake 
  • Reproductive performance 
  • Disease incidence 
  • Longevity 

For example, the program considers, that every third week, there is a chance that the cow comes into heat, is inseminated and perhaps becomes pregnant. Each week the cow also has a risk of becoming ill, being culled, or dyingIn short, all events in the cow’s life are modelled

 “Our mission is to create value for farmers through reliable, sciencebased calculations that aid the decisionmaking process

How can SimHerd help you? 

All calculations are based on your herd and real herd data.

  • We can calculate anything from small management changes to large investment analyses
  • Results are easy to understand and allow you to compare different alternatives
  • You can take the calculations to your bank, to show the potential value of an investment or management change
  • With a SimHerd calculation all aspects are uncovered; Economics, herd dynamics, implications on disease and production, and also climate impact

What can be calculated? 

Basically, anything regarding a dairy herd can be calculated. We and our partners are ready to help investigate your ideas and challenges, to find the best solution in your herd. Here are some of the most common calculations.

Investment analysis of:

  • Sandbedding or new matresses? 
  • Sensor technolgy
  • Vaccines
  • Building new young stock facilities 
  • Improving dry cow housing

Optimization

  • Labour costs
  • Health improvements
  • Reproduction
  • 3 times daily milking

Strategic changes

  • Changing breed (Holstein to Jersey)
  • Effect of crossbreeding
  • Extended lactation 
  • Herd expansion 
  • Young stock strategy

Depending on where you are located in the world, we have different solutions and providers af the SimHerd software. 

Contact us to hear more