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Assessing temperature and humidity conditions for dairy cattle in Córdoba, Argentina

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Abstract.

Temperature and humidity conditions affect livestock production in Central Argentina. This study evaluates the risk of thermal stress affecting dairy production. The temperature-humidity index (THI) was used to analyze the regional and seasonal effects of temperature and humidity. Statistically, the THI was found to be normally distributed. The probability of occurrence of a daily THI higher than 72 was 40% for Río Cuarto during January. Regional variability of THI indicates a low risk of harmful extreme thermal stress conditions. The probability of THI being 78 or above ranges between 4% and 10% for the main dairy region of Córdoba during January. Also, in January and February, dairy production losses between 3 and 4 l cow–1 day–1 could be expected with a frequency of 5% in Río Cuarto and 15% in Villa de María de Río Seco.

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Acknowledgements.

We want to thank Dr. LeRoy Hahn for helpful comments and suggestions for the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Antonio C. de la Casa.

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de la Casa, A.C., Ravelo, A.C. Assessing temperature and humidity conditions for dairy cattle in Córdoba, Argentina. Int J Biometeorol 48, 6–9 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0179-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-003-0179-x

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