Precision dairy farming: how to make it work on the farm

Integrating it all: Making it work and pay at the farm

Henk Hogeveen and Wilma Steeneveld

Precision dairy farming

1970’s: Development of individual cow ID

1980’s: Sensors for disease detection

1990’s: Automatic milking

2000’s: Revival of sensors

2010’s: New generation of sensors

What can you expect from me

The need for precision dairy farming

Success factors: when does it work (theory)

Success factors: when does it work (practise)

Lessons to learn

Trend worldwide

Less farms

Farm seize increase

Milk production increases

●Per cow

●Per labour unit

●Per farm

Increasing need for efficiency

Cows are managed in groups .....

.........becomes a disposable product?

Current demands to dairy industry

Animal well-being

Consumer demands

Environment

Labor

Economics

Jeffrey Bewley

Current demands to dairy industry

Animal well-being

Consumer demands

Environment

Labor

Economics

We have to reduce the use of scarce resources

So: explore the full potential of each individual dairy cow

Jeffrey Bewley

Is individual cow management possible?

Easy

(too) difficult

Don’t even think about it

Cow as individual animal

Enables management adjusted to the cow’s production level

●Milking management (times per day)

●Disease management (treatment or not)

●Reproduction management (insemination or not, intervention or not

●Feeding management

●Management by exception

Alex Bach

Rik van der Tol

Lots of presentations

What can you expect from me

The need for precision dairy farming

Success factors: when does it work (theory)

Success factors: when does it work (practise)

Lessons to learn

Success factors

System specifications

Cost efficiency

Non-economic factors

System specification

Description of (prototype) technology

Algorithms that transform data to informationIs this information useful?

Integration with other data sourcesThis can improve performanceProblems: Integration of various systems, co-operation between companies.

Decision supportWith or without interference of the farmerThis is the ultimate of precision dairy farming

Rutten et al., 2013

Mark Kinsel

The decision is the goal

Ilan Halachmi

Review of sensor systems until now

Cost efficiency

Benefits > costs

Sounds easy but ......

●Costs are clear

●Benefits often indirect

●Belief of effect

●.........

Some economic analyses on this conferenceex-ante: tools ex-post: real data

Portfolio problem: other fields of investment in comparison to precision dairy

e.g., Kristen Schulte

Wilma Steeneveld

Non-monetary factors

Risk

Availability of labor/capital

Farmers’ goals/preferences

Callum EastwoodMatthew Borches

Non-monetary factors

Risk

Availability of labor/capital

Farmers’ goals/preferences

Integrative model of behavioural prediction (Fishbein and Yzer, 2003)

Callum EastwoodMatthew Borches

What can you expect from me

The need for precision dairy farming

Success factors: when does it work (theory)

Success factors: when does it work (practise)

●Automatic milking

●Mastitis detection

●Estrus detection

Lessons to learn

Automatic milking

Economically: not cost-efficient

●E.g., Bijl et al., 2007, Pellerin et al., 2001,

At most equally cost-efficient

●Steeneveld et al., 2013, Hyde and Engel, 2002

Adoption rate:

●North West Europe: 15-30 %

●U.S.: < 1 % (but changing)

Motivation is not in economics!

Farms with AMS are mostly family farms with limited own labour

Motivation Reason 1 Reason 2 Reason 3 % Less (heavy) labour 18 10 5 21 Flexibility 7 10 4 13 Milking more than twice 7 6 5 11 Less labour available 7 5 6 11 Need new milking system 9 2 4 9 Improved udder health 0 4 5 6 Higher milk production 0 6 3 6 Building new stable 2 4 1 4 Future 3 2 1 4 Other 7 10 7 15 Total 60 59 41 100

Hogeveen et al., 2004

Mastitis detection

Developed in 1980’s

Sensors did not provide useful information

●Clinical mastitis, why automated detection

●Subclinical mastitis, no associated management

Never a success until automatic milking (need)

●Good enough (but far from perfect)

High capacity milking parlors: selection of cows to check

Doug Reineman

Estrus detection

Advantages twofold

●Labour savings

●Better estrus detection rates -> preg rates

Clear management (decision support) associated with information

Cost efficient: net cash flow € 24 ($ 31)/year/cow more with 3D accelerometer (Rutten et al., 2013).

Adoption rate: ± 15 % in US and Netherlands (personal communication Knijn and Bewley)

What can you expect from me

The need for precision dairy farming

Success factors: when does it work (theory)

Success factors: when does it work (practise)

Lessons to learn

Making it work and pay at the farm

Systems must provide clear information

Information must be associated with management (actions)

●Logically (insemination if oestrus > VWP)

●Decision support system (cow-specific)

Cost efficiency is important (but not essential)

●Labor savings

●…..

Keep it simple

Message for researchers

Explore new sensors

Keep management in mind: clear decisions

●Missed them in ketosis and claw health work

There is a difference between our goals (better health/welfare) andfarmers’ goals (efficiency/profit)

Be realistic

Work demand-driven

What are the benefits ($$$$)

Message for dairy producers

Look further than costs, benefits are sometimes indirect

Health/welfare is becoming more and more importante.g., Netherlands:

●Improved udder health

●Less use of antibiotics

Sensors can more than only replacing labor.

Don’t immediately belief the sales talk: use your common sense

Go back to the individual cow

One size does not fit all!!

We are throwing away a part of the potential of our dairy cows!!!!

Ray Nebel, Ilan Halachmi

Thank you for your kindness to stay till the end

and a pleasant trip home@henkhogeveen

animal-health-management.blogspot.com

On-line courses on Veterinary Economics on:

www.elevatehealth.eu