Costs of dairy cattle diseases to producers in Ohio

Sixteen Ohio dairy operations were surveyed monthly for 12 months to collect economic and epidemiologic data as part of the National Animal Health Monitoring System. The total reported costs of disease prevention and occurrence associated with specific diseases or conditions averaged $172.40 per cow-year, with mastitis accounting for 26%, followed by infertility not otherwise specified 13%, pneumonia 5%, lameness 5%, dystocia 5%, milk fever 4%, left displaced abomasum 4%, and death 3%. Of the total disease cost of $172.40 per cow-year, $20.88 was for disease prevention and $151.52 was for disease occurrence. Most of the $151.52 per cow-year cost of disease occurrence was due to deaths, culling, and stillbirths (56%), followed by milk loss (20%), drugs, biologicals, and veterinary services (17%), body weight loss (4%), and labor and carcass disposal (3%). Most of the $20.88 per cow-year of prevention costs was for drugs and biologicals ($10.93), followed by veterinary services ($6.91), and producer labor ($3.03). Mastitis had the highest annual estimated prevalence (37 cases per 100 cow-years), followed by metritis (32 cases per 100 cow-years), infertility (25 cases per 100 cow-years), pneumonia (19 cases per 100 cow-years), cystic ovaries (8 cases per 100 cow-years), and retained placenta (8 cases per 100 cow-years). When preventive expenditures not attributed to a specific disease were included, the total health-related cost was $188.21 per cow-year. The Ohio survey has provided estimates of the economic impacts of diseases at the producer level, as well as providing base-line data for future studies.