Herd management and electronics - benefits and limits

Herd management and electronics - benefits and limits - Increasing herd sizes in milk production require a rise in dhte productivity of labour and optimisation of herd management. As a solution to this, dairy equipment manufacturers are offering various mechanical and electronic components for milking and feeding and also for cow fertility and health monitoring. According to a practice survey on the use of electronics in agriculture, the majority of the farms are satisfied with the technology they use. Positive effects are mainly experienced in the areas of working time requirements and workplace quality and also milk quantity, cell count and concentrate consumption. The biggest obstacles to greater use of electronics are the high acquisition costs, absence of obvious economics advantages and a lack of training. Three milking parlours with different types of equipment were compared in a low-tech, middle-tech and a high-tech version for the purpose of an economics of labour and farm management assessment of mechanical and electronic components. The differences in terms of economics of labour ar slight overall. However, there is a move away from physical work towards mental effort. Correspondingly, workplace quality was mainly rated positively in the abovementioned survey. The cost of a milking parlour with basic equipment varies between 150 and 340 francs per cow per year, depending on size. The extra cost per cow per year for the middle-tech versions is about 110 francs, compared with about 200 francs for the high-tech version. Beside possible productivity increases due to optimised herd management and increased productivity of labour, above all these costs have to be set against a great potential due to the cutting of health costs. If a farmer assisted by technology managers to reduce all animal health disorders by 20% that is equvalent to 114 francs per cow per year. Additional mechanical and electronic components for milking, feeding and animal monitoring could be the correct approach to optimisation of the economics of labour and farm management. They will only be successful, though, if used correctly. Before any investment the herd and labour situation should therefore be analysed in consultation with advisors and the need for optimisation determined.