Presentatie Nitra

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How could a dairy farm look like in 2020?

Dairy farming for the future

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Content

• Introduction: Belgium – Flanders• Frame for milk production• Robot or conventional?• Stable construction• Milking• Feeding• Data acquisition

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Belgium

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Flanders

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Flanders• Near the sea

– Maritime climate– High in pricipitation– Small temperature differences– Natural vegitation: leaf forests

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Flanders

• Relief: – flat like a pancake– Low ( <50m )

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Flanders

• Agricultural regions

Polders Kempen

Vlaamse zandstreek

Leemstreek

Haspengouw

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Flanders

• Population– Very high density– Highly industrialised– Logistics:

• ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Gent • Dense road, railway and waterway

network

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Flanders

• Agriculture– Many people on a smal surface

=>land is scarce =>land is expensive

– Average size: aprox. 20 ha– Need to realise high added value on a

small surface– => Flemisch agriculture is very

intensive

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Flanders

• Intensive agriculture– Vegitables– Animal farming

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Flanders

• Vegitables– Highest production in EU

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Flanders• Animal production

– 1,3 million cows– 1,8 billion liters milk– 6 million pigs– 30 million units poultry

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Flanders

• Diary farms– Important sector– After WW II: 2-3 cows– Continious growth until 1984: quotum– Slower rate of growth until now– Averages:

• Aprox. 350 000 l production/year/farm• 8700 l/cow/year for frisian-holstein cows

– One family

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Things to keep in mind

(Future) conditions for diary farms

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Things to keep in mind

• Economic context– EU: largest producer in the world (2008:

150 mil.tons of total 692 )– 2015: end quotum– No langer

• Limitation in production• Constant, rather high, prices

– Unlimited production and world market prices• Lower• Less constant

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Things to keep in mind • Need for increasing size

and efficiency• Expected: 2 opposite

movements – Growth of farms with

potential– End of inefficient

farms

(source: Boerderij april 2008)

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Frame for milk production

• Longer term: – Higher prices due to an increase of

world population– But also an increase of costs

• Feed • Energy • …

– Efficiency is the key word

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Things to keep in mind

• Labour becomes more expensive– It is important to know what 1h of

labour kosts– Automatisation: may be a solution,

but• Does the investment pay of?• Are there real

savings?

– Be critical!– Be rational! s

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Things to keep in mind

• (Cow) productivity– Trend towards higher annual

production per cow• Canada: # cows limited• Can be more efficient, but only if correct

applied

– Bigger cows

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Things to keep in mind

– Cow welfare becomes more important– More high quality (concentrated) feed

more individualised feeding– Need for more data

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Things to keep in mind

• Public opinion becomes more important– Animal welfare– Environment– Location and view– Food safety– Labor conditions– …

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Things to keep in mind

• Some basic rules:– Keep it simple– To measure is to know

• Expandability an adaptability– Jack Rodenburg: “if you are building a

stable for 200 cows, draw one for 400 cows and tear it half”

• Jack Rodenburg: make mistakes in the drawing room and not in the actual building cheaper

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Things to keep in mind

• Basic principals– Efficiency– Cow welfare– Quality - information– Simplicity– Adaptability

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Robot vs. conventional

• SWOT-analysis • Economic considerations

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Robot vs. conventional• Strong

– Labour quantity: less working houres– Labour quality:

• Flexible working houres• More family life• Less monotone labour

– Higher milking rate ( 3x )• Higher production per cow• Better feed efficiency• Less animals• Actual production can meet potential

– Milking rate adapted to cow’s needs

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Robot vs. conventional

• Strong– Better cow welfare

• Free to have themselves milked whenever they like

• Less presure on the udder • Low productive cows are no more milked

than absolutely necessary

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Robot vs. conventional

• Weak– Higher

investment– Less contact with

cows– Milk quality may

be a problem• Mastitis• Cell number• Germ number

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Robot vs. conventional

• Opportunity’s– To milk more cows with less people

(180 cows per worker instead of 100)– Improve family life– Expand activity’s without hiring more

people e.g. cheese ore other deviated product

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Robot vs. conventional

• Treath’s – Robot owners thinking it is a miracle

machine needs supervising and assistance

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Robot vs. conventional

• Economic considerations– Start point:

• 600 000l/y• 76 cows• Av. 7800 l/cow/y

– Investement• Conventional milking: €70 000 (machine)

+ €20 000 (building) = €90 000• Robot: €110 000(robot) + €10 000

(building) = €120 000

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Robot vs. conventional

Conventional Robot

Investment €90 000 €120 000

Energy - Water €1 799 €1 928

Depreciation 15y

+ interest 5% €8 249 €10 999

Maintenance €2 100 (3%) €4400 (4%)

Total €12 148 €17 337

Net difference -€ 5 189

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Robot vs. conventional

• So it would seem a robot comes out more expensive,

• But– Time saved:

1h/day x €20 x 365 d/y= €7300/y– Increase in production: 7 800 l/y 8

300 l/y 4 cows less (= €2 500)– Social aspects

www.khk.beConventional Robot

Investment €90 000 €120 000

Energy - Water €1 799 €1 928

Depreciation 15y

+ interest 5% €8 249 €10 999

Maintenance €2 100 (3%) €4400 (4%)

Total €12 148 €17 337

Labour -€7300

Production increase

-€2500

Net difference +€4 571Source: Hendrickx Haeck

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Robot vs. conventional

• Attention!– This is an example– Every case is unique

and needs to recalculated

– The choice should also depend on the company culture, habits and strategy

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Stable construction

• Location & orientation– Existing buildings– Labour efficiency– Expandability– Flexibility– Hygiene:

• Feed• Suppliers/visitors• Manure• Milk recollection

– Ventilation

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Stable construction

• Existing buildings: current situation

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Stable construction

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Stable construction

• Current walking, feeding, … lines

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Stable construction

• Consider several options

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Stable construction

• Decisive factors– Expandability & flexiblitiy– (Labour) efficiency– Hygiene– Ventilation

• Let’s check the red solution

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Stable constrution

• Expandability: OK

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Stable construction

• Efficiency: OK

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Stable construction

• Hygiene: no crossing lines: OK

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Stable construction

• Ventilation– Basic guidelines

1) Main wind direction

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Stable construction

2) Ideal orientation perpendicular to main wind direction

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Stable construction

3) Parameters:– Enough air passing trough– Avoid high air velocity ( < 0,25 m/s )– Inlet surface depending on the number of cows

Animal Inlet surface per animal

Highly productive cows( > 7000 l/y )

0,15 m²

Low productivity cows 0,12 m²

Young animals (400 kg) 0,08 m²

Young animals (200kg) 0,04 m²

Calfs 0,02 m²

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Stable construction

• 3) Parameters– Consequences:

» Height is important» The wider, the higher

– Inlet surface depending on the inlet system

System Multiplier

Spaceboarding 7-2 4,5

Spaceboarding 10-2 6

Nets

13% open 5,53

23% open 3,34

30% open 3

36% open 1,9

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Stable construction

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Stable construction

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Stable construction

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Stable construction3) Parameters

– Inlet temperatures: -5°C 25°C– Below -5°C: (partially) covering inlet surfaces– Above 25°C: consider forced ventilation, but

only when significant number of days– Graph.: milk production vs. temperature

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Stable construction

Source ventilation: Agriconstruct

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Stable construction

4) Obstacles?

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Stable construction

4)Obstacles?

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Stable construction

5) Cold air drop? need for air guidance

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Stable construction

• Ventilation– Our example:

• Bottom-up curtains– 30% opening– Closed can be lifted or lowered

• Needed inlet surface : 0,15m²x100cowsx3=450 m²

• Orientation: not ideal, but exceptable

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Stable construction

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Stable construction

• Interior– 2 basic things to keep in mind:

• Cow welfare ( production )• Efficiency

– Need to understand cow behavior

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Stable construction

– Individual cows: perception• Vision

– Cows see things differently– Accommodation

» = possibility to adapt the eye in order to see things sharp (nearby vs. distant)

» Nearby: good sight» Far away: troubled + slowly adapting

– Unsharp view far away poor recognition in the distance

– Sensitivity comparable to human

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Stable construction

– Perception of motion: careful with rapid movements

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Stable construction– Bovines can adapt when luminance is changing,

but very slowly: e.g. outside -inside» Humans: 30 sec» Bovines: 3 min

– Cows like light ( tend to move to lighter place )– Afraid of contrasts=> avoid dark stables => avoid contrasts

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Stable construction

– Light = important sufficient light permeable surfaces

– Need for diffuse light e.g. 90% permeable

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Stable construction

• Vision area stressed animal

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Stable construction

– Corridor effect

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Stable construction

– Colours: bovines have limited colour vision, they rather respond to the brightness of the colours

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Stable construction

• Smell and hearing– Compensate for the poor vision– Animals like habits unusual

smells or sounds scare them– Avoid strange smells

» e.g. new cows accommodation box to catch the stable smell

» e.g. work outfit in stable– Avoid hard, sudden noises

» e.g. gates silent blocs or wood

» e.g.radio

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Stable construction

– Social behaviour• A herd is more than the addition of

animals cow society• Dominant animal fear, bully • Leaders respect, older, smarter or more

charismatic cow• Herd majority• Marginal animals sick, small, …

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Stable construction

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Stable construction

• Avoid mixing herds there can only be one queen fights decreasing productivity

• Try to get to know who is who• Identifying marginal animals these

animals produce beneath their potential• 10% feeding and resting places surplus• Avoid bottlenecks give marginal

animals an alternative – e.g. drinking place at least 2

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Stable construction

– Standing up• 6 fases

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Stable construction• Boxes: dimensions

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Stable construction

– Soft material in boxes• Straw• Sawdust• Sand• Rubber cowmats

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Stable construction

• Interior– Most efficient box arrangement

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Stable construction

– Popular stable arrangement

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Stable construction

– Stable arrangement

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Stable construction

• Groups not bigger than 60-80 cows– Conventional milkingotherwise

waiting time to long (marginals)– Robot milking: capacity robot

• Claw health clean floor is important – Manually– Robot– Manure shifter

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Stable construction

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Milking

• Conventional milking– Milking area placement

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Milking

– “Once upon a time”: milking was a moment when one could observe all his/her cows

– Now: • large herds, impossible to remember • Aim: milking het highest amount of

animals in the shortest time (productivity)• Needs to happen as efficient as possible

– Rapid exit– “Carrousel”

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Milking

• Milking system on itself is more than 40 years old is ok

• Changing: – Monitoring – Milking assistance– Arrangement

• Rapid exit• “Carroussel”

• Recent development: separate milking each quarter

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Milking

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Milking

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Milking

• Robot– Major technical challenge: locating

the nipples and properly attaching the cups • Has been mastered• Infrared locator• Camera + optical data processing device

– Basics are OK, still small improvements (e.g. software, …)

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Milking

• Robot– Weak points:

• Cows are not forced to have themselves milked ( is also a strenght )

• Milk quality

– How to get the cows going to the robot (especially sick, weak, marginal, low rank cows) ?• Free will• Smart gate ( combined with feeding )• Manually certain percentage inevitable

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Milking• Free will

– sometimes cows wait to long – utter problems – Lower robot occupation rate

• Smartgate– Eating – resting

• One way free ( saloon doors )• Other way: smartgate selection

– Possible problems• Bottleneck • Dominant vs. low rank?• Need for separate feeding and resting area

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Milking

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Milking

• Very important: location– Nearby for cows– Expandability– Separation of unhealthy animals

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Milking

Robot area

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Feeding

• Feed cost = important cost• Basic idea

– “low quality” base fodder ad libitum– High quality concentrate fodder

production dependent

• Need for correct applying

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Feeding

• Base fodder– Grass, maize, …– Intense mixing (and cutting), but not

squeezing – Vertical mixer vs. horizontal mixer

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Feeding

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Feeding

• Weight measuring = indispensable• Innovations : automatisation

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Feeding

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Feeding

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Feeding

• Concentrates

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Data acquistion

• “Once upon a time”: farmer observed cows

• Now: observing is still very important, but – Less contact– Increasing #cows– Increasing production need more

intense monitoring– More “amateurs” working on farms

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Data acquisition

• Farmer becomes manager– In order to take decisions need for

information– Automised monitoring systems can

help

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Data acquisition

• Ideal moment: milking– Production– Production per quarter– New (Eurotier 2008): Measurement of

fat, protein, lactose (future: more parameters)

– Number of milkings– …

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Data acquisition• Other measurement systems

– Motion monitoring (e.g. innovations Eurotier 2008 )

– ILVO ( Belgium ): detection of crippled animals

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Data acquisition

– General condition measuring • Optical systems (incl. infrared)• Weight• Seize • …

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Data acquisition• Problem: Information avalange • Challenge: Keep overview,

structurise information and automatic selection of deviating para- meters