FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production
Managing a milk zone in the dairy industry is demanding. Data necessary for efficient management are difficult to acquire because they usually must be collected in organized and standardized ways. On the other hand, software practices constantly provide new tools that can go beyond simple record-kee...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-04-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/9/1495 |
| _version_ | 1797603068862267392 |
|---|---|
| author | Malamati Louta Panagiotis Karagiannis Vasiliki Papanikolopoulou Sotiria Vouraki Evangelos Tsipis Stergios Priskas Georgia Koutouzidou Alexandros Theodoridis Socratis Dimitriou Georgios Arsenos |
| author_facet | Malamati Louta Panagiotis Karagiannis Vasiliki Papanikolopoulou Sotiria Vouraki Evangelos Tsipis Stergios Priskas Georgia Koutouzidou Alexandros Theodoridis Socratis Dimitriou Georgios Arsenos |
| author_sort | Malamati Louta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Managing a milk zone in the dairy industry is demanding. Data necessary for efficient management are difficult to acquire because they usually must be collected in organized and standardized ways. On the other hand, software practices constantly provide new tools that can go beyond simple record-keeping practices and add value to the data. In this work, FarmDain is a novel web-based application for sheep and goat management. It aims to improve milk production and processing by digitizing the value chain in data acquisition, processing and visualization between dairy production businesses and their milk suppliers. FarmDain uses state-of-the-art software technologies to model the data collection process and provides a straightforward user interface to facilitate data processing and visualization. Using the app in a case study carried out for 12 months in a dairy sheep farm resulted in lower feeding cost per milked ewe by 5.5% when ewes were allocated into high and low milk production groups compared to the scenario of remaining in one single group. Furthermore, based on reports provided by the app, culling and genetic selection decisions were made to improve the overall farm performance. Similar practices were applied in all farms optimizing their productivity, which led to increased profitability for farms and the Dairy Factory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:25:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-73451781a6b848c0af391de624785252 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:25:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-73451781a6b848c0af391de6247852522023-11-17T22:29:53ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-04-01139149510.3390/ani13091495FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat ProductionMalamati Louta0Panagiotis Karagiannis1Vasiliki Papanikolopoulou2Sotiria Vouraki3Evangelos Tsipis4Stergios Priskas5Georgia Koutouzidou6Alexandros Theodoridis7Socratis Dimitriou8Georgios Arsenos9Telecommunication Networks and Advanced Services Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, GreeceTelecommunication Networks and Advanced Services Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, GreeceLaboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceLaboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceTelecommunication Networks and Advanced Services Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, GreeceLaboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Macedonia, 53100 Florina, GreeceLaboratory of Livestock Production Economics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceAchilleas Socratis P.C., 1st Km. Amyntaio-Florina Rd., 53200 Amyntaio, GreeceLaboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceManaging a milk zone in the dairy industry is demanding. Data necessary for efficient management are difficult to acquire because they usually must be collected in organized and standardized ways. On the other hand, software practices constantly provide new tools that can go beyond simple record-keeping practices and add value to the data. In this work, FarmDain is a novel web-based application for sheep and goat management. It aims to improve milk production and processing by digitizing the value chain in data acquisition, processing and visualization between dairy production businesses and their milk suppliers. FarmDain uses state-of-the-art software technologies to model the data collection process and provides a straightforward user interface to facilitate data processing and visualization. Using the app in a case study carried out for 12 months in a dairy sheep farm resulted in lower feeding cost per milked ewe by 5.5% when ewes were allocated into high and low milk production groups compared to the scenario of remaining in one single group. Furthermore, based on reports provided by the app, culling and genetic selection decisions were made to improve the overall farm performance. Similar practices were applied in all farms optimizing their productivity, which led to increased profitability for farms and the Dairy Factory.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/9/1495sheepgoatsdecision-support toolmanagementdairy industryanimal food value chains |
| spellingShingle | Malamati Louta Panagiotis Karagiannis Vasiliki Papanikolopoulou Sotiria Vouraki Evangelos Tsipis Stergios Priskas Georgia Koutouzidou Alexandros Theodoridis Socratis Dimitriou Georgios Arsenos FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production Animals sheep goats decision-support tool management dairy industry animal food value chains |
| title | FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production |
| title_full | FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production |
| title_fullStr | FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production |
| title_full_unstemmed | FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production |
| title_short | FarmDain, a Decision Support System for Dairy Sheep and Goat Production |
| title_sort | farmdain a decision support system for dairy sheep and goat production |
| topic | sheep goats decision-support tool management dairy industry animal food value chains |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/9/1495 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT malamatilouta farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT panagiotiskaragiannis farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT vasilikipapanikolopoulou farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT sotiriavouraki farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT evangelostsipis farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT stergiospriskas farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT georgiakoutouzidou farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT alexandrostheodoridis farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT socratisdimitriou farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction AT georgiosarsenos farmdainadecisionsupportsystemfordairysheepandgoatproduction |