Herd improvement has been occurring since the domestication of livestock, although the tools and technologies that support it have changed dramatically. The Australian dairy industry tracks herd improvement through a range of approaches, including routine monitoring of genetic trends and farmer usage of the various tools and technologies. However, a less structured approach has been taken to valuing the realised and potential impacts of herd improvement. The present paper aims to demonstrate the value of herd improvement, while exploring considerations for undertaking such a valuation. Attractive value propositions differ among and within dairy stakeholder groups. While broad-scale valuations of genetic trends and industry progress are valued by government and industry, such valuations do not resonate with farmers. The cumulative nature of genetic gain and compounding factor of genetic lag means that long timeframes are needed to fully illustrate the value of genetic improvement. However, such propositions do not align with decision-making timeframes of most farming businesses. Value propositions that resonate with farmers and can lead to increased uptake and confidence in herd improvement tools include smaller scale cost–benefit analyses and on-farm case studies developed in consultation with industry, including farmers. Non-monetary assessments of value, such as risk and environmental footprint, are important to some audiences. When additionality, that is, the use of data on multiple occasions, makes quantifying the value of the data hard, qualitative assessments of value can be helpful. This is particularly true for herd recording data. Demonstrating the value of herd improvement to the dairy industry, or any livestock sector, requires a multi-faceted approach that extends beyond monetary worth. No single number can effectively capture the full value of herd improvement in a way that resonates with all farmers, let alone dairy stakeholders. Extending current monitoring of herd improvement to include regular illustrations of the value of the tools that underpin herd improvement is important for fostering uptake of new or improved tools as they are released to industry.

中文翻译：

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在澳大利亚乳业展示畜群改良的价值

自家畜驯化以来，畜群改良一直在发生，尽管支持它的工具和技术发生了巨大变化。澳大利亚乳业通过一系列方法跟踪畜群改良，包括对遗传趋势的常规监测以及农民对各种工具和技术的使用情况。然而，已经采用了一种结构化程度较低的方法来评估畜群改良的已实现和潜在影响。本文件旨在证明畜群改良的价值，同时探讨进行这种评估的考虑因素。有吸引力的价值主张在乳制品利益相关者群体之间和内部各不相同。虽然政府和行业对遗传趋势和行业进展的广泛评估进行了评估，但这种评估并未引起农民的共鸣。遗传增益的累积性质和遗传滞后的复合因素意味着需要很长的时间来充分说明遗传改良的价值。然而，这些提议与大多数农业企业的决策时间表不一致。与农民产生共鸣并可以提高对畜群改良工具的采用和信心的价值主张包括与包括农民在内的行业协商制定的小规模成本效益分析和农场案例研究。对某些受众而言，价值的非货币评估，例如风险和环境足迹，很重要。当额外性（即在多种情况下使用数据）使得量化数据的价值变得困难时，价值的定性评估可能会有所帮助。对于畜群记录数据尤其如此。展示畜群改良对乳制品业或任何畜牧业的价值，需要一种超越货币价值的多方面方法。没有一个数字可以有效地以与所有农民产生共鸣的方式获得畜群改良的全部价值，更不用说乳制品利益相关者了。扩大目前对畜群改良的监测，包括定期说明支持畜群改良的工具的价值，这对于促进新的或改进的工具在工业界发布时的采用非常重要。