Wheeled robot a future 'bell cow' for grazing herds
Plus, New Zealand climate conference highlights advances in methane reduction.
A professor with experience in space rover research leads the work to create the “cattle fieldworker of the future.” SwagBot, a four-wheeled robot for use in cattle pastures, launched in 2016. Through their research, developers have shown that once cattle are used to the robot, they will follow it around the pasture, which helps keep cattle from overgrazing. It was recently in the news for new features, including computer vision that can monitor the gait of its herdmates.
Read more about the robot here and see it in action here.
Jones-Hamilton Company (Sponsor)
Manufactured in the USA by Jones-Hamilton, ParlorPal® is an affordable way to control ammonia and lower pH in calf hutches, bedding and footbaths.
Learn more here.
New Zealand climate conference highlights advances in methane reduction
A trio of presenters at New Zealand’s Agriculture and Climate Change conference shared interesting updates about enteric methane mitigation efforts in Oceania. Dr. Rod Carr said the country’s mitigation efforts will likely settle on a bolus or vaccine.
That may not be too surprising of a statement as most of the country’s cattle are grazed. Couple New Zealand’s methane reduction targets for agriculture and the need for a non-feed-based solution, and you get an industry highly motivated to find a scientific breakthrough.
Dr. Harry Clark, the chief scientist of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, said during the conference he believes enteric methane emission mitigation “at scale” is possible.
That’s a bit more optimistic and confident tone than the last time I spoke with Clark three years ago. Read my interview with Clark from three years ago here.
Several companies developing mitigation technologies presented at the event. Ruminant BioTech says it will have a methane-inhibiting bolus ready to be sold by the end of 2025. Their bolus contains synthetic tribromomethane, the same compound found in certain types of seaweed that has been shown to reduce methane production. Interestingly, their bolus also contains an electronic tag that can be used to verify treated cattle.
ArkeaBio provided an update that shows their research trials with a vaccine against enteric methane has shown a 10% to 15% methane reduction in inoculated cattle. The company still aims to bring a commercial product to market within five years.
A farm’s management style, not size, is usually most important when considering technology. Read why here.
Dairy tech helps Wisconsin dairy win nationwide quality award
A dairy in Wisconsin with milking robots and rumen bolus sensors recently won the Dairy First Award. The annual award is presented by pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim to a dairy producer who demonstrates a commitment to milk quality and herd well-being. Minglewood Dairy in Deer Park, Wisconsin, received the award for 2024. The dairy has 1,200 cows and eight milking robots.
Read more about the farm 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 Dec. 19, 2024):
1,000-cow dairy = $821,100 (UP about $32,000 since the middle of November)
2,500-cow dairy = $2.810 million (UP about $9,000 since the middle of November)