REAL LIFE NEWS: ONLINE COWS
by Hazed
Cows are going online. No, they are not surfing the net looking for bovine porn… but dairy farmers in Scotland are connecting them to the net to help boost milk production.
These new online cows allow farmers to keep track of the health of every individual in a herd, and to identify potential problems early. The system works by using special electronic collars, which collect data about the health of the animals and how much milk they are producing. It uses a wireless link to transmit the data to a central computer where it can be monitored and analysed.
The project has been developed by a company called Silent Herdsman. The CEO, Annette McDougall said, “Farmers can monitor the fertility behaviour of the animal, the likelihood of pregnancy in the cow and ultimately produce more milk to boost operational efficiency on the farm.”
The company wants to expand the scheme to get the data sent to vets, suppliers and retailers.
Farmers have found that using the system saves them time and money. Graham Kerr, a Lanarkshire dairy farmer, said, “It is very useful, it is saving us a lot of time on the day to day running of the farm, it has given us more time to spend with our families. But it has also given us the time to do other jobs on the farm which helps us do a better job of being a dairy farmer.”
He added, “If we can catch a cow when she’s going lame early on, or sick through a digestive problem, we can intervene earlier and hopefully save ourselves an expensive vet call out.”
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-26705812
