Every dairy farmer knows that some paddocks are more productive than others but Future Dairy researchers were staggered to find the average difference between the best and worst paddocks is 100%!

RESEARCH conducted by the Future Dairy team has identifi ed the potential to use a device that monitors activity and rumination for early identification of left displaced abomasum (LDA) in dairy cows.

An automatic milking system (AMS) offered two generations of the Crosby family the opportunity to dairy farm while maintaining off-farm employment. For parents Doug and Lyn, it was a step towards retirement in the longer term. For son their Bill, it opened up the potential to farm full time in the future.

With 500 cows, four children and a variety of industry roles, Western Victorian dairy farmers Mark and Sam Billing are happy for all the help technology can offer. But with so many products on the market, the couple says the challenge is to identify the technology that has the right fit for their operation.

Calving cows adds extra work and stress in any dairy operation. The demands are intense in seasonal
or split calving systems where large numbers of cows calve over brief periods. In year round calving
systems, it’s an on-going chore.

Clever pasture allocation strategies could increase the capacity of milking robots in Australia’s
grazing based systems, according to recent research conducted by FutureDairy postgraduate student, Alex John.His findings suggest some farmers may be able to milk an extra 10 cows per robot by changing the amount of feed offered in the early evening.

Meet Anna. This 2½-year-old Ayrshire cow is a pin-up girl for modern dairying. Rather than wearing a bell around her neck, she is wearing a rumination and activity sensor that will tell the farmer when she is ovulating, when she is about to calve, when she is eating and when she is sick.

When it comes to cows, Tasmanian dairy farmer John van Adrichem is definitely a listener. He says that one of the most important things he has learnt since installing milking robots is to watch and listen to his cows.

New Zealand dynamo, John Penno, will be the key note speaker at this year’s Dairy Research Foundation’s annual
symposium to be held in the Hunter Valley on 19-20 June

Australia’s milk producers are set to benefit from the appointment of dairy expert, Dr Nicolas Lyons, to a newly created robotic dairy position based at the Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute in Camden.

Dairy’s top young researchers are tackling some of the big challenges likely to face the industry in the
coming years including climate change, fertilisers and animal health and welfare.

Automatic milking farms have two options for moving the cows to and from the dairy: voluntary cow movement (either ‘controlled’ or ‘free’) and batch milking. FutureDairy Project Leader, Dr Kendra Kerrisk says the choice of cow movement in an automatic milking system (AMS) is influenced by personal preference and the availability of
infrastructure and labour.

Dairyfarmers considering automatic milking systems (AMS) frequently ask what percentage of their herd will need to be culled as having udders that are unsuitable for robotic cup attachment.

With increasing numbers of Australian dairy cows now being milked by robots, researchers are looking at a range of exciting ways to use robots on farm, and one that has already shown promise is the use of robots to herd cattle from the paddock to the dairy. Delegates at the Dairy Research Foundation’s symposium, to be held at Kiama on 4, 5 July will get a sneak peak of Rover, a prototype robot, in action.

FutureDairy has launched a web-based resource on automatic milking systems (AMS) for large herds.
Project Leader Associate Professor Kendra Kerrisk said the resource was designed for people at various stages in the robotic milking journey.