Dairy cows Precision Farming

the use of technology to automatically monitor livestock, their products, and the farming environment in real-time, to aid farm management, through supplying the farmer with relevant information on which to base management decisions

• precoursers date to 1970s = individual electronic milk feeders • 1980s = automatic behaviour based oestrus detection systems • now technologies can measure onset of calving or predict which animals have infectious disease or which will suffer from transition disease

• static and animal munted sensors e. g. leg sensor, rumen bolus, neck sensor, ear tag camera • sensor-derived behaviour and physiology data e. g. body condition, eating, position, body temp, lameness, drinking • data intergrated as part of automated welfare assessment e. g. hunger/thiirst, discomfort, pain/injury/disease, social interaction, agression/fear

• automated milk feeding for calves • milking robot • robotic scraper • feed pusher robot

• tri-axial accelerometers • pressure sensors in floor provide data on hoof placement and leg pressure • detection of stride to stride inconsistencies can allow for the diagnosis of lameness in its early stages • Ultrasonic foot-bath sensors can also be installed to monitor claw shape with the goal of maintaining good claw health • Vision-based systems in development (e.g. tracking hoof location data)

• Even trained observers underestimate prevalence of lame animals, based upon visual observation alone • missed oppertunity for early intervension or treament • (interobserver lamensss score test on wk 5 tutorial powerpoint)