title: Assessing temperature and humidity conditions for dairy cattle in Córdoba, Argentina.
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.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, C.C. 509, Córdoba, Argentina. delacasa@agro.uncor.edu
authors.forename: Antonio C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de la Casa
authors.forename: Andrés C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ravelo
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D002417:Cattle; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D018882:Heat Stress Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D006813:Humidity; D013696:Temperature