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
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