Detecting the best optimal dairy cattle herd sizes based on energy consumption using fuzzy linear programming model

A kind of fuzzy linear programming (FLP) model with fuzzy right hand side coefficients is presented in this study. This approach is applied to milk production system in some dairy cattle farms of Iran with the purpose of demonstrating optimization strategy in energy consumption. Based on the results of this study and the model for maximization of energy productivity index, we found the best and optimum herd sizes in each three classified farms (150 cows) as 73, 142 and 188 heads, respectively. Confronting the major problem of uncertainty in agricultural data, linear programming with fuzzy concept was taken into account. Following the mentioned purpose, it is realized that FLP is an easy and flexible approach that can be used for energy planning problems and moreover it is a serious competitor for other confronting conventional optimization approaches, i.e. linear programming.