Economic impacts of mastitis and reproductive disorders in the Hungarian dairy herds

The sharp competition among dairy herds in the EU caused the recognition in herd managers that the main sources of losses related to herd health should be discovered. The object of this study was to quantify average annual losses due to mastitis and reproductive disorders in dairy herds. The study included 8 Hungarian herds with 6,825 Holstein-Friesian cows, altogether. The results showed that the decrease in milk production of cows suffering from subclinical mastitis means 58.9 EUR loss per cow per year. The amount of discarded milk, early culling due to mastitis and the drug costs were responsible for 49.5 EUR, 39.1 EUR and 12.9 EUR extra costs, respectively. Therefore, the average annual loss due to mastitis was 160.4 EUR per cow in 2011. Milk losses, early culling and drug costs caused 67.6% (108.4 EUR), 24.4% (39.1 EUR) and 8% (12.9 EUR) of the total amount of losses, respectively. Annual loss of income related to reproductive disorders exceeded 227 EUR. Increased calving interval caused the majority of this loss (70.9%, 161 EUR). Premature disposal owing to reproductive disorders also had large economic impact, causing 13.4% (30.5 EUR) of the total loss. Treatment cost brought about 16.9 EUR (7.5%), while increased number of services per cow was responsible for 8% (18.7 EUR) of the total expenditure