Untersuchungen zur Beziehung zwischen dem ökonomischen Gewinn und Indikatoren der Tiergesundheit in Milchviehbetrieben des ökologischen Landbaus in Niedersachsen

Summary

The aim of the study was to proof the effect of animal health on the economical suc-cess in organic dairy farms. From August 2002 till September 2003 25 dairy farms in lower saxony were regularly visited, while economical and health data were collected. The economical success is highly related to the milk yield per cow. The higher the profit, the higher the percentage of cows per herd with a somatic cell count under 100.000 SCC and the higher the rates of clinical mastitis or hypocalcemia. In general there is a relation between animal health and profit in organic dairy herds but this study proofs that higher milk yield leads to higher profit in spite of an increasing amount of illness.