Software in the barn: High-tech herd management

Article published by: Holstein International – Jacques Bernard

When it comes to the term “software,” agriculture is not necessarily the first thing one thinks of. But without new technologies, precision farming would not be where it is today. The various software solutions have helped to use resources optimally, protect the environment and improve yields, efficiency and profitability.

When it comes to dairy farming, one talks of Precision Livestock Farming. The goals are to increase milk production and feed efficiency while improving herd management and animal health. As such, the demand for central, flexible software solutions that connects different systems. This area is just where UNIFORM-Agri, a Dutch software company with over 40 years of experience, made its name internationally. Over 17,000 farms around the world use their solutions – with particularly strong growth in markets like Great Britain and South America.

Holstein International – Han Hopman

In contrast to many other suppliers, UNIFORM-Agri does not sell any hardware. The software has a purposeful open-concept design which allows it to connect with almost every system common to the market – from milking robots to selection gates to national herdbooks. ‘We don’t see ourselves as a competitor, but rather as a connecting piece between systems,’ explains CEO Tineke Sieperda. ‘Our goal is to offer a functional, comprehensive solution for the farm – independent of the manufacturer of the individual components.’ One advantage that is noticeable on growing or bigger farms: UNIFORM-Agri is taking over the role of a central platform, where all farm data is gathered, processed and passed on to specific targets. This not only saves time, but also creates a reliable basis for management decisions, as Leendert Koek of Schep Holstein reports: ‘We use UNIFORM as a link between our GEA milking parlour and smaXtec. In the mornings I look at all the summaries from UNIFORM and decide for which cows I need to take a closer look.’

‘We don’t see ourselves as a competitor, but rather as a connecting piece between systems. Our goal is to offer a functional, comprehensive solution for the farm – independent of the manufacturer of the individual components.’ CEO Tineke Sieperda.

An important factor for success is practical client service. UNIFORM-Agri has its own after-sales teams in ten countries, that are mostly made up of people with agricultural backgrounds. ‘In our opinion, it is easier to explain computer systems to people from the ag sector than to teach IT specialists the many different aspects of animal rearing,’ says Sieperda. Another important advantage to having teams in different countries is the observation of the individual markets. Every development of their products comes about because the markets ask for them. The support team helps the clients in the drafting of individual protocols – like for drying off, hoof care or for health warnings relevant to different stages of lactation. Aside from the actual animal care, the software allows evaluation of genetic development. All data – even from culled cows – is saved and can be used for evaluations. This allows reliable conclusions to be made about breeding progress and development of production. To achieve the latter, UNIFORM-Agri cooperates with Zoetis. The goal is to better integrate genotypic and phenotypic data in practice. This way even more reliable analyses can be made in the future, which will lead to even better breeding results.

To better connect farm data in practice is also the idea of the new company MyDairyS GmbH. It offers a digital platform to dairy farms for the evaluation of farm data. The goal is to provide effective, objective and holistic data evaluation for herd monitoring to uncover hidden potential and to ensure the long-term competitiveness of agricultural operations. Particular value is placed on the amalgamation of information from different branches of a farm. MyDairyS was designed and developed by Sano – Moderne Animal Feeding. Dr. Norbert Göres describes the emergence of the program: ‘We had the need to better understand the connections on the farms. On every farm there is a range of data and analyses that are often done in isolation, which makes interpretation more difficult.’ What was originally planned as an internal platform for Sano developed over time into an independent company with a freely available product. The platform is particularly well suited for people that work with farm data related to herd management. ‘MyDairyS is not a classical management program, but rather a specialized data platform which to an extent goes beyond herd management and brings together data from various systems. It serves as a tool for control and analysis to find limiting factors and identify unrealized potential. As such, MyDairyS serves as an aid for decision making in goal-oriented optimization of farm and herd management,’ says Dr. Göres.

The first version of the platform was presented at last year’s EuroTier expo. It makes it possible to bring in data from milk recording and all repro data and tie it directly to feeding information. In concrete terms, this means that the influence of feed analyses and ration changes on milk recording can be visualized graphically and tabularly. This function allows feed events to be better understood in the long-term – an advantage which is especially valued by feed advisors. Veterinarians that are not really involved in the area of feed analysis are also able to use the detailed evaluated of udder health to give farms more detailed advice. A big advantage for groups giving advice is the possibility to create individual reports and supplement them with comments. ‘The function of the platform is continually being expanded. Particularly with the use of artificial intelligence we see enormous potential to evaluate data efficiently and in real-time, allowing for an increase in animal health, welfare and farm profitability. We know that not every client will use all the tools in the same way – the range of functions makes it possible to give as many users as possible a fitting solution,’ emphasizes Dr. Göres. The platform is easily accessible through every device connected to the internet through an online login. Currently, MyDairyS is available in German language regions; access for other countries is underway in the second half of the year.

The company smaXtec has been showing for years with great success how software directly in the cow can work. The newest development places renewed emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), geared towards animal health and improving efficiency of dairy farms. Through the evaluation of large amounts of data in real time, the company’s own AI solution TruAdvice™ makes it possible to offer a very precise and proactive care for every individual animal. Early signs of disease like milk fever, ketosis or mastitis help farmers to react in good time – before clinical signs are even observed. This not only creates healthy herds but also reduces the use of antibiotics and increases profitability. The key component of the technology is the analysis of physiological data like body temperature, drinking behaviour, rumination activity and movement. Using this information, TruAdvice™ recognizes typical disease patterns, calculates the likelihood of specific dairy cow sicknesses and, together with the digital assistant, gives concrete handling recommendations – not only for experienced farmers, but also for less informed personnel. This makes daily work in the barn significantly easier, as employee intervention is more targeted and animal observation becomes much more efficient.

‘The farmer is the focal point for us. That is our approach, from the development to sales to support – that is why we make a system available that is more personal, intuitive and powerful than ever before,’ underlines Stefan Scherer, CEO of smaXtec. Thanks to a new update, the software is even more concise. The completely reworked and modernized user interface fits even better into the daily work of the farmer – and not the other way around. One decisive advantage: The smaXtec AI is continually learning through millions of data points it gathers and through work with veterinarians, farmers and scientists. The goal is to improve the predictive accuracy and to establish the system as a more comprehensive health management tool. To counter possible reservations about new technologies, smaXtec purposely offers intuitive usability, practical solutions and personal support from the first day. ‘We want to put a tool in the farmers hand that gives them security – not a technological toy, but rather a real partner in the barn, developed for farmers and not for IT professionals,’ adds Stefanie Murauer, Marketing Manager at smaXtec. In the future, AI is to not only play a central role in disease detection, but in feed optimization and work planning as well. In this way, smaXtec is making an important contribution to a sustainable, healthy and profitable dairy sector – with a focus on animal welfare and farm success.