An Individual Feed Allocation Decision Support System for the Dairy Farm

A decision-support system that allocates concentrated feed to cows through individual feeders according to their performance has been developed using fuzzy logic. Fuzzy sets were constructed by analysing experimental data based on which ranges of values for the fuzzy sets members were determined by an expert. The model was developed on a group of 15 cows in a dairy of 50 milking cows (two milkings a day) under a controlled dietary regime, assuming characteristic cow behaviour concerning body weight, milk yield, lactation period, and concentrate feed consumption. The data were analysed by the decision-support system and compared to weekly decisions of the expert. Results indicated relationship between historical cow performances and concentrated food intake. The advantage of using fuzzy logic was that it enabled improved concentrate feeding ration according to performance. The system enabled to automate decision making, thus providing the farmer with a valuable tool. However, from an economic point of view no significant statistical improvement was achieved by the fuzzy logic system.