By Greg Goodell, DVM, The Dairy Authority
Technology use on the dairy may have started with SCR collars for cows and parlor management software, but today robots and artificial intelligence are providing new ways to care for and manage cows and employees.
Each technology gathers a vast amount of information. And it can be easy to be overcome by the sheer amount of data provided by each technology used on the dairy. The key is learning to extract the value from the data. That means you need a key, trained person on-farm, or a veterinarian or consultant who can spend time running reports or writing algorithms to extract specific metrics to help you take action on the data. That’s how you gain value from technology. Data is a powerful tool, but only when you use it.
With parlor management software not only do you receive individual-cow milk weights, but also things like milker reattach rate, milk flow rate, peak milk flow, and how long it takes to milk out each cow. Many of these details can be used to judge how well things are going in the parlor.
For example, if the reattach rate is 10% to 15% or more it indicates poor milk letdown. Ineffective teat stimulation is often the cause. Poor milk letdown could mean the milking prep protocols need to be improved, or that employees may not be following — or are rushing through — the prep protocols. The data gives you a starting place to identify and correct the cause of a problem. Analyzing these different data points gives you the ability to see what can be achieved in your parlor and why your parlor may not be achieving target goals.
The same is true with the wearable technology in collars and ear tags that provide real-time information on cows’ rumination time, activity, temperature and more. When analyzed this data can tell us a lot about cow health, if she’s coming into heat to breed, and if she is being impacted by heat stress. When you have someone whose job it is to look at the data each day we can make big improvements in animal health and overall well-being.
Some dairies now utilize robotic milkers, automated feeding systems, robotic feed pushers, and robotic manure handling systems. There are also a lot of exciting new technologies for dairies that are driven in part by the use of artificial intelligence. AI has gotten so good that it can accurately identify cows as they walk into the parlor. AI in video monitoring systems can also tell you how long a milker left their post.
Traditionally when cameras have been used in the parlor, we have had to go back and review footage after a problem occurred. With the new AI software in video systems, you can receive a summary of each shift, each person, or each day. With real-time data, we can tell the system what we want it to look for — such as people leaving their post, or cow activity in the parlor — and it provides the answers for us.
The new automated body condition scoring systems have gotten really accurate at estimating cow weights. They can be used to score cows daily and alert you if a cow falls outside of the predetermined range that you set for her.
The number of technology options for dairies will continue to grow. But they all come at a cost. Before you invest in technology, you must first commit to designating someone to mine the data each day and act on the reports generated. That’s how you get the most out of your investment. Because if you don’t use the data to make decisions and take action, why spend the money?
In dairies with good cow people and a good computer person, technology can make a huge difference. It’s part of how many high-producing dairies continue to make incremental improvements to gain an additional pound or two of milk per cow. They ask questions about what can I do to improve. Then they mine the data to help them make the right decisions. The result is improved cow health and well-being, which in turn increases efficiency, profitability and sustainability of the dairy.
