Audit und Benchmarking zur Optimierung der Tiergesundheit

Summary

Consumers of organic products expect very high food quality as well as speciesappropriate
husbandry, high animal health and best organic feeding. Studies showed
that in some sections in organic dairy farms animal health is not better than in conventional
farms. Kuh-M is the first quality management system specifically for organic
dairy farms. It is based on an internet-database where the results of the monthly milkcontrol
and the ingredients of the bulk-milk are presented in a benchmarking. With
these results it is possible to appreciate the status quo of the animal health like subclinical
metabolic changes, udder health, fertility and yield. Members can use the database
to compare their results with the pool of the other members to evaluate their
status quo. This is supported by a yearly audit, which is performed by a dairy consultant.
Possibilities and acceptance of Kuh-M were checked out within a diploma thesis.
Part of this thesis was the implementation of Kuh-M in ten organic dairy farms including
all features and one audit. After the implementation the dairy farmers were interviewed
and their answers evaluated. The results of the interviews are showing that
Kuh-M is a tool for supporting organic dairy farmers to optimize their animal health
management. The system has a good acceptance among those farmers who are used
to work with the computer.