Carbon taxes on cows set to begin in Europe
Plus, locomotion detection tech adds body condition scoring
Within the last month, the world has seen the first cattle operation owners scheduled to be taxed because of their cows’ enteric methane emissions. By the end of the decade, Danish dairy farmers will be required to pay a net $17 per animal per year tax. That amount will increase over time. By 2035, dairy farmers will be paying $43 per year per animal in methane emission taxes.
Advocates for the tax say its purpose is to force farmers to adopt practices that mitigate emissions. Opponents say it likely will instead put animal agriculture operations out of business.
Read more here.
Locomotion detection tech adds body condition scoring
CattleEye recently announced the launch of its body condition scoring (BCS) system for dairy cows. The system requires only a security camera to be placed at the exit of a milking parlor. The system uses the very latest in artificial intelligence to derive insights from the video footage of cows walking past the camera.
The company launched in 2022 with a locomotion scoring service and was acquired by GEA earlier this year.
Learn more here.
Enteric methane inhibition via water supply
An innovator in Australia is adding soluble methane inhibitors to the closed-system water deliveries they make to cattle on range in the outback. The company is also selling carbon credits to consumers from the predicted reductions in enteric emissions.
Watch the CEO discuss it below and learn more here.
Vermont farmers try out virtual fencing tech
Several Vermont farms recently spoke about their experience with a European-based virtual fence technology. The farmers get to use No Fence’s collars and technology on their farms to prove management efficiencies and environmental benefits for small farms.
Read more about their results here.
Animal welfare start up monitors cows with AI
AI technology created at a university has moved into the field for British dairy farmers to use. Start-up company Vet Vision AI’s technology uses low-cost portable cameras to monitor cattle behavior.
Read more about it here.
Dairy profit projections from ZISK
Projected profitability for the next 12 months for two dairy herd sizes INCREASED in recent profit projections from ZISK.
ZISK is a profit projection smartphone app that tracks individual dairy farm profitability based on current CME board prices. Projections for a 1,000-cow dairy producing an average of 80 pounds of milk per cow and a 2,500-cow dairy producing an average of 85 pounds of milk per cow are provided.
12-month dairy farm profit projections (as of July 18, 2024):
1,000-cow dairy = $944,000 (UP about $166,300 since the beginning of June)
2,500-cow dairy = $3.142 million (UP about $417,000 since the beginning of June)