Dairy farmers currently know a lot more about dairy cows than generations ahead of them. Why? Adoption of technologies on farms is the key purpose.
Most farmers are making use of information from revolutionary technologies to recognize the biology behind their dairy herds to make greater choices and come to be a lot more effective.
“With information, we’re understanding that our cows are altering more than time and enhancing their production, so farmers cannot use information from ten years ago to make choices currently simply because we had distinct animals back then along with distinct technologies and diets,” says Veridiana Daley, senior dairy cow researcher at Purina Mills.
According to a current report by the Gear Suppliers Association, advances in revolutionary technologies with dairy cow genetics and automated farm management systems are the most substantial contributors to minimizing the dairy industry’s carbon footprint, equivalent to taking four million vehicles off the road.
The report also located that today’s dairy herd is creating 4 occasions the planet typical, with 16 million fewer cows. In addition, adoption of the technologies by farmers saved sufficient water to provide New York City for two years.
“Dairy farming can be complicated. Farmers are beneath a lot of strain, restricted time and modest profit margins. The purpose of making use of technologies is to assist farmers make greater choices, come across bottlenecks in their function and eventually be a lot more lucrative,” says Alex Tebe. , technical specialist for dairies at Purina.
Making a higher top quality dairy cow
Genomic testing and genetic choice for desirable traits such as milk yield have helped farmers build a lot more productive dairy cows.
Most dairy farmers test heifer calves to see which will genetically make a appropriate replacement in their herd. The tests show the genetic possible of milk production, says David Erf, Zoetis senior dairy technical solutions veterinarian.
“When we genomically test calves, it can predict their future,” Erf says. “The purpose is to come across which animals will be a lot more lucrative for dairy farmers.”
Genetic testing and choice enables farmers to cut down the quantity of cows that are not lucrative.
“Testing enables us to genetically come across a lot more of these difficulty-absolutely free cows that are great in production, great in reproduction and great in overall health, simply because a cow that can excel in these 3 regions is going to be a lucrative cow for any farm,” Erf says. .
Farmers use time and sources a lot more effectively
Currently, the most widespread application of technologies on dairy farms is the robotic milking program, which has revolutionized the milking parlor.
A robotic milking program can bring a lot more flexibility to dairy farmers and let them to concentrate on other tasks, such as crop function, simply because they are no longer tied to the cow, says Susan Mack, chief operating officer of AMS Galaxy USA, a supplier of precision production gear. milk.
In the robotic milking program, a sensor detects the presence of cows and automatically cleans the cow’s teats ahead of and immediately after setting up the dairy. In addition, the program will gather information from the cow’s collar – which is comparable to a human Fitbit – to track her milking time, kilograms of milk made and rumination.
“Cows can be milked day and evening.” So you may not have to be concerned about obtaining up at the crack of dawn the subsequent morning to get started the housework,” says Mack.
In most circumstances, a robotic or automatic milking program can also imply that cows commit a lot more time in the barn. According to Meck, this can make it tricky for farmers to get into barns to clean pens and give fresh bedding.
Nonetheless, there are automated cleaning systems such as flushing systems, scrapers and robotic manure collectors that are pulled by way of the barn and take the manure to the landfill, Mack says.
“Automated gear does a great job simply because it runs about the clock,” she adds.
Most manure management systems also have water-saving processes and water-use monitoring capabilities to assist farmers make greater choices about water sources.
Farms are also updating to automated bedding systems, which assist cut down bedding waste by delivering modest grades all through the day. In addition, automated bedding improves cow overall health and comfort, Mack says.
“This form of automation enables farmers to place their cows down 3 to 4 occasions a day, as opposed to after or twice a week manually,” Mack adds. “Cows also like to have that fresh bedding typically.”
Making use of technologies information for greater management choices
Currently, a single cow can produce a lot more than two billion information points in its lifetime. According to Daly, most dairy farms gather physical information points from a variety of application or tracking technologies that gather a lot more than a hundred sorts of details.
Farms at a a lot more basic level with herds that only run dairy herd improvement (DHI) tests after a month nonetheless gather 5 to ten information points on their cows per month, Tebbe adds.
Nonetheless, measuring and comparing information to come across farm bottlenecks can be tricky when there is no effortless way to integrate information from distinct farm technologies. Tebbe says that is exactly where Addie, Purina’s dairy information analytics plan, comes in. It collects information from all the management application technologies made use of on the farm and produces a report with actionable insights that producers can use to improve financial possible.
“Farms that have embraced the technologies could have 4 or six distinct application systems collecting all their information. “The way Purina constructed Addie, the program integrates information from these application systems, in an effortless-to-recognize type, permitting us to commence to recognize the entire farm image,” says Tebbe.
“Addie is a tool or technologies that bargains with cows,” Daly adds.
Making use of the collected information, farmers appear for techniques to be a lot more effective with their sources, such as making a lot more milk production with much less feed or early detection of illness in cows ahead of it impacts their welfare.
“Farmers are curious people. They often want to know a lot more and ask fantastic concerns, so we can take their concerns and transform their information to get the answers they want to succeed,” adds Tebbe.