Dairy farmer Johannes Loubser was very enthusiastic about his heat detection system in HI`s reproduction series. South Africa is not alone. Around the world, thousands of farmers trust their “assistant”, who for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, tirelessly signals which cows are in heat. Three specialists and farmers from Europe, Israel and U.S. share their experiences.
The most southern province of South Africa is called Western Cape. This region has the largest dairy operations in the country as well as the most registered Holsteins. Because the area is not suitable for the production of high-quality forage, they are very focussed on performing as well as possible in all aspects – here is their story.
With today’s high production costs, spending your money wisely is more important than ever. Simply said, investments must pay for themselves. We asked Hoard’s Dairyman where they get the most bang for their bucks.
Resting time is inversely correlated with milk production and directly correlated with gestation length. Based on readings of thousands of cows fitted with pedometers in multiple farms, Afimilk has measured 500 to 700 minutes per day as the normal resting time for lactating dairy cows.
Automated heat detection systems are making this possible in today’s industry. However, most systems on the market, including AfiAct, are able to provide the producer with more than just a heat detection tool.
Under prevailing practices milk delivered to dairy plants is graded upon reception, according to acceptable standards of hygienic quality. In most countries, these standards include upper limits on transportation temperature, bacterial counts, antibiotic residues, and SCC (McLaughlin, 2006; USFDA, 2007).
Intramammary infection (IMI), comprises a group of costly diseases affecting dairy animals worldwide. Many dairy parlours are equipped with on-line computerised data acquisition systems designed to detect IMI. However, the data collected is related to the cow level, therefore the contribution of infected glands to the recorded parameters may be over estimated
The composition of raw milk for a required dairy product has a direct influence on yield, taste and on process optimization. For cheese manufacturing, these are determined mainly by the level of milk constituents and it’s coagulation properties, i.e., rennet clotting time (RCT) and curd firmness (CF)
The behavior of dairy cows is dependent on the interaction between the cows and their physical environment. In the “big picture”, the physical factors of the facility (stall design, flooring type, feed bunk design, environmental quality) impose baseline limitations on how the cows will interact with the housing conditions. Within these limitations, the ability of cows to engage in natural behaviors is further dictated by management routines such as grouping strategy and stocking density
Feeding for efficient milk production leads in modern dairy practice. Efforts to maintain production and fertility at optimal levels under given market, husbandry and feeding conditions, often fail. Yet, financial
losses for an “open day” are estimated in various studies to be 2.5 to 5.0 US$.
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