Materials and methodsData Collection
Data were collected from a research farm in the south of Ireland for a period of 4 yr (2006–2010). Daily herd milk yield (liters) and number of cows milked (NCM) on that corresponding herd DIM was collected because this is the most accessible data for commercial farmers to obtain. Milk yields were recorded from a conventional herringbone swingover milking parlor using ICAR (International Committee for Animal Recording)-approved milk meters. The model was set at herd level and evaluated by comparing daily milk yields across a herd of 140 pasture-based Holstein-Friesian (HF) cattle (North American HF and New Zealand HF genetic strains). The milking season of 2010 was selected as the target prediction horizon and the previous 3 yr of data were used to train the model.