The hidden costs of animal health in dairy cattle breeding: evidences from a case study

Inaccurate management of dairy cattle health entails problems of animal health and represents a cost that need to be correctly evaluated in order to ensure the economic success of breeding activity. The analysis proposes an economic efficiency index of veterinary cost per livestock unit (€/LU) in order to evaluate the total costs of sanitary treatments in dairy cattle breeding and compare different farms’ performance. Results shows that farmers can spend from 89.43 to 211.98 €/LU per years due to cows’ pathologies, and sometime hidden costs (i.e. implicit costs) overcome explicit expenditures. The study suggests the importance of managing and monitoring in order to provide targeted interventions. No process monitoring, i.e. lack of information, implies difficulties related to problem solving and decision-making issues.