Farmer Focus: Mulling over dairy tech for beef and sheep
Joe Mault © Richard Stanton The students are back in college and this past week, I had the pleasure of taking a group to UK Dairy Day in Telford.
As someone more familiar with the beef and sheep sectors, this was my first time attending the event and I must admit, I was blown away by the advancements in the dairy industry.
The scale and sophistication of the technologies and innovations on display were truly eye-opening.
See also: Artificial intelligence calving monitor debuts at Dairy Day
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Walking through the stands on display, I was immediately struck by how far ahead the dairy sector seems in comparison to my very own red meat industry.
The emphasis on efficiency, precision, and data-driven management in dairy farming was remarkable.
From automated milking systems to advanced nutrition management software, it was clear that dairy farmers are leveraging cutting-edge technologies to stay competitive and meet the stringent demands of the market.
What really stood out to me was the level of accuracy.
Farmers are monitoring everything, from milk yields and cow health, to feed intake and even individual cow assessments by using artificial intelligence to assess cow body condition scores.
The precision with which they can manage their herds was truly impressive.
It struck me that the dairy industry, perhaps out of necessity from previous volatile markets, has been quicker to adopt technologies that provide real-time data and insights, which in turn leads to more informed decision-making.
In contrast, the red meat sector seems to be lagging in adopting these kinds of technologies.
While there have certainly been improvements in genetics and grazing systems, the drive for efficiency and precision in our sector isn’t quite as advanced.
The level of monitoring, data collection, and analysis that dairy farmers have embraced seems to be something we, in the red meat sector, could benefit from learning more about.
And arguably, as they are milking twice or three times a day, dairy farmers have greater opportunities to collect the data needed.
The dairy industry’s pursuit of efficiency and accuracy is something we could aspire to, as we too face pressures to improve sustainability and overall productivity.
The experience was not only informative for the students, but it also left me eager to explore how the lessons learned from dairying could be applied to sheep and beef.