DairyNZ economist Matthew Newman said the study, which would start soon, would also assess the environmental economic implications if farmers were required to put barns on their farms.
His team would work with Waikato-based AgFirst consultant Phil Journeaux, a former Ministry of Agriculture senior manager.
No regional council required barns or housing yet but the subject was getting plenty of discussion, particularly in Canterbury, as a way to reduce nitrogen loss, Newman said.
The dairy industry did not support such a requirement, he said.
“But we need to do some work to determine how viable some of these options are.”
Newman and his team plan four or five case studies around the country, the first in Canterbury and others in Waikato, where a HerdHome will be the focus, Southland, and Bay of Plenty.
A 2010 DairyNZ study of the costs and infrastructure required for wintering systems in Southland found housing might cost about $1500 a cow for HerdHomes and up to $2700 a cow for free-stall wintering barns.
The large capital investment made in housing required the business to generate additional income to achieve a satisfactory return on the investment, the study found.
Additional revenue and cost reductions associated with a wintering barn were achieved through more days in milk and savings on fertiliser.
The calculated rate of return on the investment of the 500-cow case-study barn over 25 years was 22.51%.
The DairyNZ report said various types of housing had been used in New Zealand in recent years, mainly in regions with heavy soils and wet winters.
A HerdHome was a combination of feeding platform, animal shelter, and standoff facility, with a greenhouse-type roof and slatted concrete floor.
Other barn constructions typically featured metal roofing with hard or soft-floor surfaces, Newman said.
They allowed cows to be removed from pasture for long periods, protecting wet and easily damaged soil.
For farming systems that used supplementary feed, feeding equipment was required in addition to the housing.
The case studies would also investigate the economics of environmental issues around housing, such as disease control and effluent-management systems, he said.
