Digital heat detection is now preferred over visual heat detection on many farms.
One of the biggest challenges in dairy farming is to simultaneously improve production and fertility. In addition to the efforts of breeding organizations which focus on genetic reproductive traits, several companies offer systems which support farmers in their efforts to get their cows pregnant. The first deciding factor is good heat detection.
JACQUES BERNARD CHRISTINE MASSFELLER
Various studies show that a missed heat after 120 DIM costs between 60-80€. That is a considerable hidden cost for farms and is naturally also dependent on the production level and persistency of the herd. This brings is to the years long discussion if the goal should be one calf per cow per year or whether we should extend the voluntary waiting period and thereby lengthen the lactation. Independent of which strategy managers select for their herd, they would like for a majority of their herd to be bred by a certain day of lactation and get pregnant. As such, heat detection as always been essential, though it has become more difficult over the years. One reason for this is the average number of cows per farm and per employee. Another reason is that high-producing cows have shorter heats. The length of the primary heat is now between eight and twelve hours and, with the development breeding over the years, is almost half of what it used to be. These are several of the big reasons why more and more farms are looking for technological support for heat detection.
REDUCED WORKLOAD
The Dutch high-tech company Nedap, which is active around the world, has been developing high-quality and innovative hard- and software solutions for decades. Within various areas, like for example healthcare or safety and animal management, the mission of Nedap is to ease the daily workload of their clients. ‘In the branch of animal management our goals are to maximize the health and productivity of the animals while reducing the workload and resources required. In this way we are able to improve the lives of people and animals and help dairy farms reduce their carbon footprint,’ explains Bas Weustenenk, regional marketing manager at Nedap. ‘With help of automated heat detection, we are able to reduce the workload and increase the detection rate simultaneously. Visual observation in the barn is completely set aside and the farmer simply receives notice of the heat on his PC or smartphone. As such, the time can be spent on other required tasks, which in turn improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the farm,’ Weustenenk continues. The system focuses on the activity of the animals and follows the signs of heat like sniffing, chin rubbing, jumping and standing of all cows around the clock. The alarm for cows in heat is passed on in real time along with the optimal breeding timepoint. This further helps improve the pregnancy rate and reduces the calving interval as well as the number of semen doses required per pregnancy. The special thing about the concept of the company is that there are different possibilities to use the data. One option is that the data is used by herd management software on the farm. Another possibility is to use the technology through a secondary provider, as the collected data can be seamlessly integrated into all important herd management systems around the world.
‘In the future, artificial intelligence will have an increasingly important role in the evaluation of data and problem-solving.’
THREE OPTIONS
The Swedish dairy tech company DeLaval offers its clients three different possibilities for heat detection. The first is the simple and long-established activity monitoring. The second option is a system that looks at the behaviour of individual animals with the DeLaval Plus Behaviour analysis. The changes in behaviour as well as the movement patterns of a cow are evaluated using DeLaval’s DeepBlue artificial intelligence system. For an upcoming heat the probability and the optimal breeding window are calculated and given to the farmer. ‘In the future, artificial intelligence will have an increasingly important role in the evaluation of data and problem-solving. That is why our company created a team of specialists that are working on incorporating artificial intelligence into digital services,’ reports Dr. Sina Stein, Market Area Development Manager for DeLaval. The third service is DeLaval Repro with the Herd Navigator hardware for automated milking systems. This system measures the progesterone level in the milk which allows heats to be detected 36-48 hours ahead of time. The significant advantage of this is that silent heats are also clearly recognized even when the cow shows little change in activity pattern. Furthermore, cows that are not cycling, have cysts or abortions can also be detected early. Overall, this allows timelier intervention and thereby lowers the number of open animals within a herd, which increases productivity. Another feature is pregnancy checks. ‘With Herd Navigator, the diligent data entry into the herd management program DelPro™ is important. Based on this data, Herd Navigator will decide on which days to take measurements for specific cows in order to reduce the use of test strips for progesterone measurements,’ explains Dr. Stein. The program DelPro™ also collates all data collected for each animal and can help with the creation of standard operating procedures, which improves the labour efficiency.
IN THE COW
A progressive health management system based on a bolus technology is the concept of the company smaXtec, which by now is likely familiar to most dairy farmers. The bolus in the reticulum quickly delivers highly accurate data about internal body temperature, volume of water intake and drinking cycles, rumination activity and general activity. Changes in cow behaviour allows for heat detection. As soon as the main heat is definitively identified the system proposes an optimal breeding window. In this way, farmers know exactly when breeding has the best chance of success, when the likelihood of conception starts to decrease and when it is no longer advisable to breed. This decreases breeding costs and increases the pregnancy rate. The system identifies fertility disorders, allowing the farmer to intervene early and save valuable time. In addition to heat detection, smaXtec also recognizes calvings. About 15 hours before calving a notification is sent so that the farmer can prepare for the calving. This helps decrease the risk of stillbirths, retained placentas and metritis, which is a big help to fertility in the subsequent lactation. ‘It is important to us that we measure there where it makes most sense: inside the cow, directly in the reticulum. The allows our clients to reach their goals quicker, bit it a better pregnancy rate or a reduction in antibiotic use,’ shares Stefanie Murauer, International Marketing Manager at smaXtec. Here as well the idea is to use artificial intelligence more and more in the future to make the work on farm easier and to improve specific targets. As such, smaXtec has developed an innovative technology with TruAdvice™ that makes it possible for farmers to use the full power of the data on their farm. Based on statistics and comprehensive analyses from research centres, veterinarians and industry experts, TruAdvice™ is being constantly further developed to continually improve health and fertility in herds. Currently, TruAdvice™ delivers health notices for mastitis, and diseases common to dairy cows will soon follow.
COMBINATION
At Antonys Belle-Vue in Beaufort, Luxembourg, they are working with Herd Navigator and smaXtec, as farm manager Nico Antony explains: ‘I see smaXtec as a complement to Herd Navigator. Herd Navigator gives me early warning of which cows are coming into heat and smaXtec helps me identify the optimal breeding time even better. However, the initial motivation to use smaXtec was to monitor the dry cow phase and the constant temperature measurement. The latter helps primarily with severe cases of mastitis, but recently also helped react quickly and effectively to the bluetongue virus.’
