The economics of caesarian section in dairy cattle

A partial budgeting model was developed on a personal computer to determine the additional costs and returns of caesarean section in dairy cattle. The data used in the model were recorded on 35 farms in the Netherlands over a period of 8 years and 9 months. The data included 198 caesarean sections: 28 caesarean sections resulting from the use of a beef sire and 170 caesarean sections of predominantly Holstein-Friesian sires. The additional returns of a Holstein-Friesian calf were Dfl. 55. Total additional costs were Dfl. 502: Dfl. 305 for surgery, Dfl. 131 for increased premature culling, Dfl. 26 for reduced fertility, and Dfl. 40 for milk reduction. Total losses were Dfl. 447 per caesarean section. The additional returns of an average crossbred calf were Dfl. 144. In this situation the costs of a caesarean section were Dfl. 565, which resulted in a negative outcome of Dfl. 421 per case. Thus, with 26% chance of having a caesarean section in crossbreeds, the expected additional costs (0.26 x Dfl.565) equal the additional returns (Dfl. 144)..