Development of a Computerized Recording System for Measuring the Production Efficiency in Small Dairy Holders I. Structure of the Computerized Recording System

Abstract

CoopLIVE is a computerized recording system designed specifically for use in Thai’s dairy cooperative environment. It allows recording of minimum data requirements for determining the production status of a dairy herd including cavling, breeding, pregnancy diagnosis, drying off and remove events, Individual cow’s milk production can be recorded on a monthly basis. CoopLIVE stores data from all cows on a single database while it obtains the capability to recognize which cows belongs to which cooperative member. This capability enables CoopLIVE to issue performance and management reports on a member basis or on a cooperative basis making CoopLIVE a useful tool for both small dairy holders and researchers. The data recordings, database structure and report formats were described in details. After being installed at Ban Boung dairy cooperative, Chonburi province for 1 year, it was found that only half of cooperative members (53%) continued to send data to the cooperative office for entering into the computer. Verification procedures for the accuracy of the data sending to the office by each member indicated that small holders pay best attention to record calving events and least attention to record drying off events. The use of simple recording system and local extension officers to educate farmers on recording system benefits and to continuously motivate farmers on this matter seem vital to the escalation of dairy data recording scheme of the whole country.