With the cessation of milk quotas in the European Union, dairy herd sizes increased in some countries, including Ireland, with an associated increase in labor requirement. Second to feed costs, labor has been identified as one of the highest costs on pasture-based dairy farms. Compared with other European Union countries, Ireland has historically had low milk production per labor unit; thus, optimization of labor efficiency on farm should be addressed before or concurrently with herd expansion. The objective of this study was to quantify current levels of labor input and labor efficiency on commercial pasture-based dairy farms and to identify the facilities and management practices associated with increased labor efficiency. Thirty-eight dairy farms of varying herd sizes, previously identified as labor-efficient farms, were enrolled on the study and data were collected over 3 consecutive days each month over a 12-mo period, starting in May 2015 and finishing in August of 2016. This was achieved through the use of a smartphone application. For analysis purposes, farms were categorized into 1 of 3 herd size categories (HSC): farms with <150 cows (HSC 1), 150–249 cows (HSC 2), or ≥250 cows (HSC 3). Overall farm labor input increased with HSC with 3,015, 4,499, and 6,023 h worked on HSC 1, 2, and 3, respectively. A higher proportion of work was carried out by hired staff as herd size increased. Labor efficiency was measured as total hours input to the dairy enterprise divided by herd size. Labor efficiency improved as herd size increased above 250 cows with 17.3 h/cow per yr observed for HSC 3; labor efficiency was similar for HSC 1 and 2, at 23.8 and 23.3 h/cow per yr, respectively. A large range of efficiency was observed within HSC. The labor requirements had a distinct seasonal pattern across the 3 HSC with the highest input observed in springtime (February to April) primarily due to calving and calf-care duties, milking, and winter feeding. The lowest input was observed in wintertime (November to January) when cows were dry. Particular facilities and management practices were associated with efficiency within certain tasks, the most notable in regard to milking and winter feeding practices. Additionally, the most efficient farms used contractors to perform a higher proportion of machinery work on farm than the least efficient farms.

随着欧洲联盟对牛奶配额的停止，包括爱尔兰在内的一些国家的奶牛群规模增加，劳动力需求随之增加。人工成本仅次于饲料成本，是牧场牧场的最高成本之一。与其他欧盟国家相比，爱尔兰历来单位人均牛奶产量较低；因此，应该在扩大畜群规模之前或同时解决农场劳动效率的优化问题。这项研究的目的是量化基于商业牧场的奶牛场的当前劳动力投入水平和劳动效率，并确定与提高劳动效率相关的设施和管理实践。38个不同规模的奶牛场，以前被确定为劳动效率高的农场，参加了这项研究，并从2015年5月开始至2016年8月结束，每个月连续12天（连续12个月）连续3天收集数据。这是通过使用智能手机应用程序实现的。出于分析目的，将农场分为3个牛群大小类别（HSC）中的1个：牛群<150头（HSC 1），150–249头（HSC 2）或≥250头（HSC 3）的农场。HSC的总农场劳动力投入增加了，分别在HSC 1、2和3上工作了3,015、4,499和6,023小时。随着牧群规模的增加，雇用员工进行的工作所占比例更高。劳动效率的衡量标准是向乳品企业投入的总工时除以畜群规模。随着HSC 3观察到的牛群规模增加到250头以上，奶牛的年生产力为17.3 h /牛，劳动效率得到了提高。HSC 1和2的劳动效率相似，分别为23.8和23。每年每头牛3小时。在HSC中观察到了很大范围的效率。在3个HSC上，劳动力需求具有明显的季节性模式，在春季（2月至4月）观察到的投入最多，这主要是由于产犊和犊牛护理，挤奶和冬季喂养。冬季（11月至1月）奶牛干燥时，观察到的投入量最低。在某些任务中，特定的设施和管理实践与效率相关，其中最显着的是挤奶和冬季喂养实践。此外，效率最高的农场比承包商效率最低的农场使用承包商在农场上执行更高比例的机械工作。在3个HSC上，劳动力需求具有明显的季节性模式，在春季（2月至4月）观察到的投入最多，这主要是由于产犊和犊牛护理，挤奶和冬季喂养。冬季（11月至1月）奶牛干燥时，观察到的投入量最低。在某些任务中，特定的设施和管理实践与效率相关，其中最显着的是挤奶和冬季喂养实践。此外，效率最高的农场比承包商效率最低的农场使用承包商在农场上执行更高比例的机械工作。在3个HSC上，劳动力需求具有明显的季节性模式，在春季（2月至4月）观察到的投入最多，这主要是由于产犊和犊牛护理，挤奶和冬季喂养。冬季（11月至1月）奶牛干燥时，观察到的投入量最低。在某些任务中，特定的设施和管理实践与效率相关，其中最显着的是挤奶和冬季喂养实践。此外，效率最高的农场比承包商效率最低的农场使用承包商在农场上执行更高比例的机械工作。在某些任务中，特定的设施和管理实践与效率相关，其中最显着的是挤奶和冬季喂养实践。此外，效率最高的农场比承包商效率最低的农场使用承包商在农场上执行更高比例的机械工作。在某些任务中，特定的设施和管理实践与效率相关，其中最显着的是挤奶和冬季喂养实践。此外，效率最高的农场比承包商效率最低的农场使用承包商在农场上执行更高比例的机械工作。