Automated herd management system
Erkebulan's transformed dairy farm
Description
Mambet, a farmer in Northern Kazakhstan implemented a cow herd management system on his farm of 1300 cattle farm, employing robots for automatic milking and adopting Dairyplan C21 Herd Management Software. The management software can cater to farms of all sizes and to specific requirements due to its modular framework with features for overseeing milking, reproduction, feeding and animal health. The key features enhancing its efficacy include a custom milk yield calculation system, precise individual animal identification and automated features like feeding and animal sorting through AutoSelect, FeedSelect and automatic oestrus detection. The farmer can add other programs to the system in future, such as sensors for tracking the weight of feed, as well as sensors for tracking cows.
Technology
The data processing systems applied to herd management make use of sensors that track the weight of feed, as well as sensors tracking the behaviour, health and welfare of individual cows. The program provides visual KPIs (key performance indicators) for the highest priority topics – fertility management, health and production. Visual prompts are presented on the dashboard highlighting the status of the key aspects of farm management (milking, tasks and problems), and all data are stored in the Cloud. To ensure the smooth operation of the technology, Mambet ensured a good and stable Internet connection to his farm.
Target
The solution has been employed by a farmer specialized in livestock rearing, and required distinct knowledge of the agricultural business. Before embarking on the dairy project, the farmer learned from the experiences of farmers in Germany and Ukraine, and investigated the software and equipment available on the market for the automation and management of a dairy farm. Considering the high cost of the software, such an approach is viable only for medium and large dairy farms with at least 400 head of cattle.
Business model
To finance the project, the farmer combined his own funds (15 percent) with a concessional loan from the state Agrarian Credit Corporation and subsidies for livestock breeders (the remaining). The software required an investment of KZT 2.3 billion (USD 5.4 million).
Impact
The software has facilitated the automation of the milking control process, the distribution of feed, the process of recognizing and sorting animals, as well as the process of recognizing the onset of heat in cows. Automation has allowed the farmer to assess the reproduction rate of his livestock, the amount of feed consumed and the health of the animals while managing his business. All of this helped Mambetov in the effective planning of his farming activities. The farm reached its production target of 12 tonnes of milk per day two years after launching the system. The ability to access accurate indicators for the herd, for each group of animals and for each individual cow allows farm workers to continuously monitor the health of the animals. The farm, which operates with 1300 head of cattle, employs only two reproduction technology workers, and the farmer claims that three more would be required in the absence of the herd management programme. Digitalization has further removed the need to carry out the routine collection of data on animal productivity, as the software records the volume of milk produced by each cow on a daily basis. According to the farmer, the use of digital technologies has made it possible to attract young specialists to the farm, who are in short supply in rural areas. Since launching the system, five young professionals have been employed.
Four Betters
Better production
Better life
