The Future of Herd Decision-Making May Be Virtual

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14 hours ago
1 min read

Veterinarians make herd-level decisions with imperfect information. A reproductive program may affect the herd for years. A nutrition change can alter production as well as manure and nutrient flows. A heat-stress intervention may look different depending on the farm, the animals and the weather.

What if some of those decisions could be tested before they were implemented?

That is the long-term vision behind RuFaS, the Ruminant Farm Systems model, an open-source whole-farm simulation platform developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and recent topic of discussion on a Hoard’s Dairyman webinar. The model is designed to connect the major components of a dairy operation, including animals, manure, soil and crops, and feed storage, allowing researchers to simulate how changes in one area can affect the rest of the farm.

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