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Dairy Farming Articles - Afimilk Knowledge Center

Read dairy farming articles in our blog to learn more about the different aspects of running a dairy farm - automation, business analysis, advanced tools and more.

Poole’s Brothers Farm:A Journey from Tail Painting to Hi-Tech Precision with AfiCollar

For Isaac Poole, AfiCollars have transformed how he and his team work. With the AfiCollars giving them all the information they need to make breeding and medical decisions and Afi2Go Prime putting it at their fingertips, not only does a day on the farm look very different compared to two years ago, but they are operating more efficiently too. Running this large operation has been made much easier for Poole Brothers farms and can be for you, too.

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Farm Management In Your Pocket

Life on Charcroft Farm changed dramatically the day Tom Hiscock won the cow collars and started using them alongside Afi2Go Prime. Tom always has a handle on exactly what work is being done and who is doing it, and he can make changes on the fly in response to real-time situations without any undue stress.

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Damage control! How accurate and timely detection of subclinical ketosis reduces the impact of this widespread disease.

A dairy farm that can rapidly, accurately, and non-invasively detect all cases of subclinical ketosis (without the inconvenience and expense of carrying out repeated strip testing) will be a more profitable as well as more efficient farm. Sub-clinical ketosis detection through the AfiLab system is proven reliable, accurate, and fast and is revolutionizing the way that dairy farms across the world detect and manage this pervasive disease.

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Informed Management of Transition Cows Aids in Maximizing Production Potential

managing transition cows is critical to help your herd achieve its maximum potential and avoid significant production losses through the rest of their lactation. Afimilk provides accurate, reliable tools that can not only find cows that are not increasing milk production as expected, but can detect subclinical ketosis and other health issues, allowing for early intervention at all stages of lactation.

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The Crisis of Mastitis-How technology can help farmers tackle dairy farm’s most serious health issue.

Mastitis is infectious, often fast-spreading and has devastating impacts on your cow population and profits. Alongside any diagnostic tools used, keeping accurate and detailed records about the nature and cause of any mastitis outbreaks on your dairy farm will help you provide effective treatments in a timely manner. It will also help you understand how your farm compares to industry norms and decide whether you need to change your milking protocol or improve general hygiene.

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Beat the Heat: How to Detect and Manage Heat Stress in Cows

To keep your cows comfortable and optimally productive at all times, you need to monitor their conditions continuously. This is especially true in the summer months or in countries with warmer climates. However, with global warming raising its head, this can be relevant anywhere and at any time of year.

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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.

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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.

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Why Every 21st Century Dairy Farm Needs A Milk Meter

The Afimilk MPC used alongside Afifarm’s farm management solution provides an abundance of historic and current information about each cow. It is this level of detail that will help you take your management decisions into a higher league so you can truly maximize your productivity and profits.

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Leveraging Automation to Increase Milking Parlor Efficiency

The milking parlor is the heart of every dairy farm. A mismanaged parlor can negatively impact a farm’s critical areas of profitability, including an increase in cases of mastitis in cows, chronic teat problems and other health issues that can influence fertility, feed efficiency and welfare – ultimately ending in lost milk and lost revenue.

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Precision dairy farming: How technology can benefit dairy herd management

Increasing dairy herd size, shortage of available workers and rising labor costs has made it increasingly difficult for producers to provide specific attention to each individual animal. Due to these changes in the dynamics of herds size and production per animal, as well as the growing concerns surrounding animal welfare, the dairy industry has become one of the leading adopters of precision technology.

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Best Practices For Increased Milking Parlor Revenue

Data is the key to improving your farm’s efficiency and boosting your bottom line but to get the most of your data, you need to have the tools to analyze it. Using Afimilk’s MPC in conjunction with the milk efficiency module in Afifarm presents you with data that makes it easy for you to quickly glean practical information at a glance, with the option to delve deeper into the data if you wish.

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Unlocking the Hidden Value in Your Milk Parlor

Dairy farm so it makes sense to focus significant attention on the milk parlor when looking for ways to boost your farm’s profitability. By using milk monitoring tools, you can collect vast amounts of milking data and store it for later analysis. The best parlor solutions provide an accurate snapshot of what is going on day to day in the milking parlor down to the individual cow level, giving you the information you need to evaluate your milking protocols and plan for a more efficient future.

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Efficient Farm app with Afi2Go

Afi2Go: A Paperless Farm is an Efficient Farm

Is there anything your smartphone can’t do?
With Afi2Go Prime, your smartphone can add farm management to its repertoire!
Read our newest blog post and learn how this simple but powerful mobile app can turn your farm into a model of paperless efficiency

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milking parlor

Time to Automate Your Dairy Farm!

If you’re ready to automate your farm or you want to ramp up your automation, check out some of the Afimilk products mentioned in this article and explore how they can help you achieve your goals.

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Waste Not. Want Not!

The farm is home to 1800 dairy cattle, with 1200 Holstein cows calving annually. Robhoek is spread across 240 hectares of irrigated ryegrass pasture and plants 60 hectares of maize for silage annually. The solutions presented here enable the farm to save costs on food and supplements as well as ensure that each cow is fed a diet tailored to its nutritional needs.

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The “Weigh” to Higher Profit!

The story of a professional farmer who uses the AfiSort and Weigh system which identifies, weighs, and sorts the cows according to where they should go at each milking. Sort and Weigh helps him achieve important efficiency targets on the farm.

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TRACKING COW BEHAVIOR AS A GROUP

The Benefits of Tracking Cow Behavior as a Group

As a farmer, you may know every cow in your herd by sight. You may even have named them all and know each one’s individual quirks and habits. While there are tremendous benefits to monitoring each cow individually – especially when it comes to fertility – there are situations when group monitoring is equally as important and more efficient.

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It’s Getting Hot in Here: The Most Effective Way to Track Cows in Heat

They say that timing is everything. This is definitely true when it comes to inseminating cows – the timing must be perfect in order for the insemination to result in conception.
When conception rates are maximized, cows become pregnant at the optimal time to ensure that milk production remains at its optimum level, resulting in healthy cows and a healthy bottom line for the farm. Despite the critical importance of conception rates, only 35-45% of cows get pregnant on the first insemination.

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Afimilk Projects

Afimilk Projects has vast worldwide expertise in setting up dairy farming projects from large-scale operations to small farms.

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Activity monitors for heat detection

Activity monitors: More than just heat detection

To assure cows calve at optimal intervals and maintain milk production at peak levels of efficiency, it is necessary to constantly keep a close eye on the cows, which isn’t always an easy task. Automated heat detection systems are making this possible in today’s industry. However, most systems on the market, including AfiAct, provide the producer with more that just a heat detection tool.

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How to choose Cow Activity Monitor

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Cow Activity Monitor

Dairy producers have long understood the importance of visual cues in determining cows’ fertility and health status. Since round-the-clock observation can be impractical and labor-intensive, especially on larger operations, many dairies are now turning to technology for cow monitoring solutions.

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mastitis detection

Using conductivity for early mastitis detection

Early detection of mastitis is considered the best option to allow cows a quick recovery. Mastitis detection by seeing clinical signs, may prove challenging in large farms with high throughput or in cases of subclinical mastitis that doesn’t show clinical signs yet. New technologies automatically detect mastitis, before the cows show clinical signs.

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