Calanni Macchio, Alfio (2026) Optimizing age at first calving in the Italian Mediterranean buffalo: integrated analysis of productive, reproductive and economic outcomes. [Tesi di dottorato]

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Abstract

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a strategic species for the global dairy sector and is of particular importance in Italy, where the Italian Mediterranean buffalo breed is reared to produce Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO. Over the past two decades, the increasing intensification of Italian buffalo dairy systems has heightened the need to optimise herd management to sustain economic competitiveness while ensuring environmental and biological sustainability. Within this framework, age at first calving (AFC) represents a key management and breeding parameter, as it can affect rearing costs, genetic turnover, productive longevity, and overall herd efficiency. In Italian Mediterranean buffalo herds, AFC has progressively reduced and currently averages approximately 34–38 months, a trend largely driven by the widespread adoption of out-of-breeding mating technique aimed at controlling calving seasonality and aligning milk production with consumer demand. While the reduction of AFC reflects advances in reproductive management in buffalo heifer rearing, excessive decreases in AFC in the absence of adequate nutritional, health, and reproductive strategy may negatively compromise lifetime productive and reproductive performance of buffaloes. Therefore, the objectives of this doctoral thesis were to: (i) quantify the effects of AFC on productive and reproductive performance in primiparous Italian Mediterranean buffaloes; and (ii) evaluate the long-term implications of AFC on lifetime productivity, udder health, and economic profitability across the entire productive life of the animal. Chapter 1 provides a broad and integrative overview of buffalo, addressing its taxonomic classification, domestication history, and global and European population distribution, with a specific focus on the Italian production system. Attention is given to the Italian Mediterranean buffalo, highlighting the breed’s physiological and productive peculiarities, its adaptation to intensive farming conditions, and its central role in a highly specialized and market- oriented dairy chain. Chapter 2 investigates sources of variation in productive and reproductive performance among primiparous Italian Mediterranean buffaloes using 362,703 first-lactation test-day records from more than 50,000 animals. The results identify an optimal AFC window between 34 and 38 months, associated with the most favorable balance between milk production and fertility. While a delayed AFC (>42 months) was linked to higher milk and energy-corrected milk yields (+0.50 and +0.90 kg/day, respectively), buffaloes calving within the intermediate AFC range exhibited shorter calving interval and days open (449–450 and 137–139 days, respectively). In contrast, excessively lower AFC (≤32 months) was associated with higher somatic cell score (SCS). Chapter 3 extends the analysis to the entire productive life of Italian Mediterranean buffaloes, confirming the biological patterns observed in primiparous animals. An AFC between 34 and 38 months was consistently associated with superior lifetime productive and reproductive performance, including shorter calving interval and days open, together with lower SCS. Conversely, both lower (<30 months) and greater (>42 months) AFC were associated with suboptimal lifetime performance. The economic evaluation, integrating model-based milk yield estimates with cost structures derived from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), estimated an average milk production cost of €1.38 L−1 and a farm-gate milk price of €1.50 L−1. Under these conditions, the average net profit amounted to €314 per lactation, with the highest profitability (€339 per lactation) observed in mid-parity buffaloes calving the first time between 37–38 months. These findings demonstrate that the AFC range identified as biologically optimal also maximizes economic efficiency. Overall, the results of this thesis highlight the multifactorial role of AFC management in determining the biological, welfare-related, and economic sustainability of Italian Mediterranean buffalo farming. Targeting an intermediate AFC window of 34– 38 months emerges as the most effective strategy to balance milk production, reproductive efficiency, udder health, and farm profitability. Achieving this objective requires the integration of targeted nutritional strategies during the pre-weaning and pre-breeding phases with improved reproductive management and a holistic approach to herd longevity, thereby supporting farmers in the transition towards more efficient and resilient production systems.

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