Improving Lactation Curve Prediction by Incorporating Weather and Cow Behaviour

Abstract

Thailand has tropical weather with both high temperatures and humidity, which can affect the milk yield. Thus, commonly used lactation curve models derived from milk yields in different geographic regions cannot fit the actual milk yield in Thailand well. This study, therefore, proposes a mixed model of the lactation curve model and a regression model to adjust the prediction with regard to the effect of weather, cow behaviour, and cow information on milk production. The performance of all mixed models is better than that of the lactation curve models. This indicates the improvements in the model prediction and may imply that weather, cow behaviour, and cow information play a part in milk production.