Numerical modeling for PLF in dairy cattle farms: methods for the analysis of environmental, productive and behavioral parameters

In the last years, marked by considerable social, environmental and economic changes, even the agricultural world has not been exempt from important and continuous transformations, like all aspects of everyday life. In particular, the steady increase of the world population, new eating and life habits, the climate changes and the related and growing attention to the environmental impact are transforming the production and the management of animal husbandry. As already happened in other sectors, the most selected answer at these continuous challenges is the "technological innovation", in this field it is called Precision Livestock Farming (PLF). It is so becoming increasingly common to see in cattle barns, swine and poultry farms cameras, weather stations, collars, pedometers and other unusual sensors and instruments until a few decades ago in these places. The study carried out in this thesis is part of this scientificfield, particularly with regard to dairy cowshed. The objective of the work is to identify standard methods of analysis aimed at optimizing the management of the herd in terms of welfare and production of individual animals, but also to facilitate the daily work of the farmer. Two selected case studies were examined in three macro-areas: 1) herd management optimization; 2) relationship between milk production and environmental conditions; 3) behavioral characteristics of the individual animal. The obtained results underline the importance and usefulness of the devices installed today in the barns and the studies connected to them: if one can manage the enormous amount of data collected through ICT systems and transform it into clear information (for examples graphs), it is possible to create a system capable of optimizing the management of the farm in terms of better quality and greater quantity of product, animal welfare and simplified and more profitable working conditions.