Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse eines UHF-RFID-Systems zur Tierkennzeichnung, Simultanerfassung und Hotspotüberwachung von Mastschweinen und Milchkühen

Abstract

Increasing legal requirements regarding animal welfare on livestock production units that are simultaneously increasing in size require an optimisation of housing conditions with high demands on the management of such farms. Within an innovation project, a UHF-RFID system for simultaneous detection and monitoring of fattening pigs and dairy cows at particular hotspots within the respective housing environments was developed in order to simplify management of farms with larger numbers of livestock. Following many technical advances, there still remains lack of clarity regarding opportunities for UHF systems on the market. To help clarify matters, a cost-benefit analysis was carried out based on four fictive example farms (2 x fattening pigs and 2 x dairy cattle). The results show that the UHF-RFID system applied under the assumptions made offered an economic advantage under the best possible conditions for only one of the dairy farms. Rentability of the system for the other farms could only be achieved if an enormous cost reduction was assumed.