Information and Herd Health Management Practices in Texas Dairies

The dissemination of information by extension agents on dairy management prac­ tices used to control mastitis and the recep­ tion and use of that information by producers are investigated. Producers are surveyed to determine current practices used. The rela­ tionship between milk yield, somatic cell count, management practices, and producer and production characteristics is estimated. Subjective probabilities are elicited from "ex­ perts," extension agents, and producers con­ cerning the impact and cost of various management practices. Subjective marginal value products and marginal input costs are computed and compared for the respondent groups. Stochastic dominance is used to rank the relative importance of the practices as perceived by the respondents.