Dairy cattle herd simulator

Evaluate the technical and economic interest of animal health control strategies.

The “Dairy Health Manager” (DHM) simulator was designed to simulate a herd of dairy cattle in a specific agricultural context, with the aim of assessing the technical and economic interest of animal health management strategies. Only the dairy production workshop is considered in the simulator with the hypothesis that the breeder defines the size of his herd according to his production objectives and his structural constraints.

Developed on the basis of an individual-centered model, it has the advantage of finely modeling the herd by allowing in particular to integrate the diversity of individuals and the variability of their biological responses. In this context, the simulator makes it possible to take into account the differences and genetic variability within and between breeds linked to crossing. It also allows us to consider the representation of a decision-individual characteristics interaction, such as for example the choice of insemination breeds and culling criteria. The modeling aims to represent the biological processes and those more technical linked to the breeder's decision-making.