A recent report from market research and analysis firm MarketsandMarkets has forecast a CAGR of 6.7 per cent in the dairy herd management market over the next five years, which would see the market grow from US$2.57 billion in 2017 to US$3.55 billion in 2022.

 

Factors such as increasing herd size of dairy farms, substantial cost savings associated with dairy herd management, growing production and consumption of milk and dairy products, increasing public-private funding and investments towards the development of dairy farms, and technological advancements are driving the market. However, on-going campaigns to save dairy animals from unethical herd management practices may restrain market growth to a certain extent.

 

Preference for automation and mechanisation

 

The report – entitled ‘Dairy Herd Management Market by Product (Automated Systems (Milking Parlours, Meters, Sensors, Reproductive & Health, Cattle Management), Software (On-premise, Cloud-based)), Application (Feeding, Breeding), End user (Large Farms) – Global Forecast to 2022’ – segments the market into product, application, end user and region. 

 

On the basis of product, the dairy herd management market is categorised into automated systems and standalone software. The automated systems segment includes cattle management systems, feeding management systems, reproductive health management systems, milk management systems, and herd health management systems. The standalone software segment includes on-premise and web-based/cloud-based software.


The milk management systems segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the automated dairy management systems market in 2017. Growth in this segment is attributed to an increasing preference for automated systems, increasing mechanisation of dairy farming due to a dearth of labour, growing numbers of dairy cattle globally, and a rising demand for dairy products.

 

In the global standalone software market, the on-premise software segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market this year. The ability to reuse existing servers and presence of storage hardware are some of the key advantages associated with on-premise software.

 

Demand from developing regions

 

By end user, the dairy herd management market is segmented into small-scale dairy farms, large-scale dairy farms, and co-operative dairy farms. Small-scale dairy farms are currently the largest end users of dairy herd management products. The growing demand for dairy products in developing countries (owing to the rising population) and growing support from various public-private organisations for small-scale dairy farmers are the major factors driving the demand for dairy herd management products in this end-user segment.

 

Geographically, the dairy herd management market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Increasing numbers of dairy cows, growing demand for high-quality milk and milk products, the presence of a large number of dairy producing units, and the large volume of milk production are the major factors driving the growth of the European dairy herd management market, which is the region expected to account for the largest share of the global dairy herd management market in 2017. However, Asia Pacific is expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period, where a growing demand for milk and milk products due to the rising population, higher disposable income levels and rapid urbanisation in developing APAC countries such as India and China are the main factors driving growth.

 

Some of the major players operating in the dairy herd management market include Delaval (Sweden), GEA (Germany), Afimilk (Israel), BouMatic (US), Fullwood (UK), Dairy Master (Ireland), Lely (Netherlands), SCR (Israel), Sum-It Computer Systems (UK), and VAS (US), among others.