Studies on the possibilities for using herd management systems under Hungarian conditions based on German and Austrian examples

Hungarian dairy cattle farming has experienced tremendous change since the political changes in 1990. Competition has increased and the market conditions have changed completely. Successful production is only possible today if the dairy cattle farms meet the market expectations on quality and animal welfare, and at the same time achieve a high level of effectiveness. That is why electronic aids for herd management are becoming ever more important in dairy cattle farms. Herd management systems can help to optimally use inherently scarce available labor time and to exploit the yield potential of the cows. The farm manager receives help and can concentrate on the most important tasks in herd management. In a questionnaire survey, 195 Austrian farms were studied in 2004 and 20 large German dairy farms at the beginning of 2005, and asked about their experiences and the levels of development of the implemented electronic herd management systems. The results can be evaluated as positive from a process engineering and labor perspective. Based on the documented structures - small farms in Austria and large farms in Germany - and the results, the optimal herd management system for Hungarian farm conditions was determined. Through the targeted use of electronic aids, the Hungarian dairy farms could increase their effectiveness (labor time savings, better organization, etc.) and increase the viability of their milk production.