AfiCollar and AfiLab Uncovered How Costly a Cup of Coffee Can Be

Afimilk technology identifies how a common daily habit was decreasing fat production

When it comes to herd management, there’s countless variables that can negatively impact performance and profitability. And the root cause isn’t always easy to see. 

On one farm, a producer who had installed AfiLab was seeing declines in milk fat, but only in one group of cows. It was the first group to be fed each day, but all the groups received the same ration so the decline didn’t make sense. The nutritionist was balancing the ration, and after checking the feed in the silo there was no clear reason for the variation.

On this particular farm, the producer had also installed AfiCollar. AfiCollar is a cow neck collar that provides data on rumination that can be viewed by cow or group. A review of the data showed the group had lower rumination time than other groups, too. But why? 

The next day, the herdsman went to observe the group. While all the groups were fed the same ration, different loads were mixed at different times. When the feeder arrived that morning, he prepped the first load, set it to mix and then did what so many people do – left to get a cup of coffee. While the coffee run didn’t take long, it was long enough for the feed to get overmixed and for the load to lose effective fiber. Less fiber meant less cud chewing and not enough production of sodium bicarbonate. The result? Less butter fat. 

Milking cow feeder

The solution? The feeder now gets his cup of coffee before he starts the first load of the day. With that one simple change, the group’s components became comparable to the rest of the herd in just a couple weeks. 

That small habit had a big impact, and it wouldn’t have been caught without the help of AfiLab and cow monitoring with AfiCollar. That smart herd management. 

Tags

Subscribe Now!

Get the latest farm knowledge

Trending

Employing AfiLab™ for commercialized real time, on-line milk separation according to its clotting properties
AfiLab

Where the milk starts talking.
Integrated milking point analysis and control.

What We Offer

Accurate rumination and eating patterns are used as indications of each cow’s …
AfiFarm is a management software tool that handles up to 60,000 animals in …
Afimilk has designed a unique set of milk sensors to monitor and record …

About Us

Afimilk provides advanced dairy management solutions for farmers including cow monitoring, farm management software, and parlor automation. We go above and beyond standard monitoring to bring our …

Related Content

herd management software
Animal Welfare & Afimilk

Animal welfare is a primary criterion of social sustainability. With sustainability being a pillar of our core values, Afimilk works together with farmers who provide the best welfare possible to their herds, supplementing them with tools and best practices for improving animal care.

Read More
If Milk Could Talk! – Important Things You Can Learn By Using A Milk Meter

If you read the previous article in this series, you already know that a milk meter can be a valuable tool in your armory, giving you detailed data about each cow’s milk production to support better decision-making on the farm. Just using the solution at face value – to compare quantity and quality of milk to historical norms – is valuable in itself, but there is more you can deduce from Afimilk’s MPC milk meter when you understand how to interpret the data.

Read More

© 2022 Afimilk Ltd. | All Rights Reserved     Terms of use | Privacy policy