Analysis of cattle mortality in France, 2003-2009

Cattle mortality represents both an economical and an animal welfare issue. We analyzed the data recorded in the National Cattle Register from 2003 to 2009, gathering data about 75 million cattle, to provide reliable statistics of cattle mortality in France. On average over this period, the perinatal mortality risk in males and females reached respectively 7.9% and 6.0% in dairy cattle, and 4.7% and 3.2% in beef cattle. The average annual mortality risk of animals over two years was 3.5% for dairy and 2.0% for beef cattle. Mortality of dairy cattle was significantly higher than that of beef cattle for the ten age groups studied, except for those of one to two years. Weekly data were modeled to describe the seasonality of mortality, which was different among the different sub-population groups. The mortality rate of calves less than seven days old showed two peaks of equal magnitude (in December and July), while other age groups showed a major peak in the winter, apparently associated in adults to the peak of calving. The modeling results of the model also revealed a significant increase in death rates from 2003 to 2009, probably partly due to the blue tongue epizootic that spread in France from 2007 to 2008. Rising rates of cattle mortality have already been observed in many countries, suggesting the need to implement corrective measures.