The economics of sensor-based management of dairy cow suboptimal mobility

Suboptimal mobility (SOM) is a costly health condition in dairy production. Current SOM management is based on visual SOM detection by farm staff. This often leads to cows with severe SOM being detected and promptly treated, whereas the detection and subsequent treatment of cows with mild SOM is delayed or nonexistent resulting in prolonged cases of mild SOM being treated only at half-year routine hoof trimming. Using automatic SOM detection sensors may improve early detection of mild SOM allowing for improved SOM management. However, the economic value of these sensors used for sensor-based SOM management are not well known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the added economic value of automatic SOM detection sensors. A recently developed bioeconomic simulation model was extended to simulate a farm without and with automatic SOM detection sensors and farm economic performance comparisons were drawn. Moreover, for the farm with sensors, novel sensor-based SOM management strategies were designed. Within these sensor based-management strategies multiple scenarios with different sensor performance in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and mobility score detection were simulated. A new alert prioritization method was also introduced. Results from this study provide insights on the economic tradeoffs in production losses and additional labor costs for the different sensor-based management strategies, sensor performances, and alert prioritization. Simulations show that the added economic value of automatic SOM detection sensors are sensitive to the sensor-based management strategies, sensor performance, and the introduced alert prioritization method. Thirty-nine of the 80 simulated scenarios obtained a positive mean net economic sensor effect: the highest was €6,360 per year (€51/cow per yr). Based on evidence from our scenarios we suggest that twice-yearly routine hoof trimming with the addition of automatic SOM detection sensors should be replaced with cow specific hoof trimmer treatments following SOM detection by the sensor. Earlier detection and subsequent treatment of mild SOM resulted in economic gains when the alert prioritization method was introduced. Implementing automatic SOM detection sensor systems allows for many options to alter SOM management where improvements in farm economic performance can be achieved in combination with improved cow mobility. The implications for future research are discussed.