Analysis of factors influencing productivity of two dairy farms in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba.

The study was carried out in two dairy farms of Dos Ríos enterprise, during 2015 and 2016, in order to identify the main factors that influence dairy production. In the analysis, ten variables with the highest preponderance were identified, grouped into four principal components (PC), which explained 79.6 % of the variance. As a result of cluster analysis, four groups were f ormed, which respond, in a general sense, to each dairy farm at every season. Impact factors of each combination, principal component vs. group, were identified. The production (PC1) in dry period showed values of -0.257 and -0.815, for farms 16 and 17, respectively, related to the high stocking rate and low proportion of biomass bank in dairy 17. Herd (PC2) showed a negative impact on farm 16, due to the low number of animals that it uses with respect to dairy 17. Reproduction (PC3) presented a negative impact in both units, which was very similar during rainy season. This phenomenon indicates a greater number of births in dry season, which is not suitable in tropical exploitation systems based on pastures and forages. Milk quality (PC4) showed negative values in farm 16 during rainy season, due to mastitis. The results allowed to assess the factors with the greatest impact, average by groups and PC, and made it possible to identify, with certainty, the difficulties in the production system, so that strategies could be implemented to minimize or eliminate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]