Decision Support Systems in Animal Production : a Bayesian

Within decision theory the use of Bayesian methodology is well established. However, primarily due to complexity problems the use in applied Decision Support Systems within animal production has been very limited. Recently, methodological developments have removed many of these problems, and the time seems to be ripe for wide-scale applications. Bayesian methods handles decision making under uncertainty especially in situations, where the amount of information varies. The case for use of the Bayesian framework will be presented, and its potential illustrated with ongoing research work within herd monitoring, diagnosis, and decision support.