TECHNOLOGY
LIC and Israelibased Afimilk have formed a partnership to market the AfiCollar in New Zealand.
Connected cows loading By Anne Boswell
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he global trend of ‘connected cows’ has moved one step further with the formation of a distribution partnership between herd improvement and agritech cooperative LIC and Israeli-based Afimilk. The companies have joined forces to market the AfiCollar – a cow neck collar that monitors cow rumination, eating and motion – in New Zealand. Afimilk is a global producer of cow behaviour sensors, farm management software and milk meters, supplying collars internationally to help farmers enhance and improve the health, fertility and nutrition of their animals. Although a potential investment in Afimilk by LIC failed to proceed earlier last year, the parties recently reached a new agreement regarding Afimilk’s cow collar technology. LIC chief executive Wayne McNee says its working to build an integrated, collaborative technology ecosystem that makes it as easy as possible for farmers to adopt new technologies. “Farmers need to be able to choose
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the technology and products that are best suited to them, and our role is to ensure that proven technology can integrate with LIC’s existing systems and herd management software into the future,” he says. “AfiCollars will integrate with Protrack, LIC’s farm automation technology, which will allow for increased efficiency and faster, more informed decision-making on-farm. There is already strong demand for cow wearable technology by our farmers and for it to integrate with LIC’s farm automation systems.” McNee says cow behavioural monitoring devices like the AfiCollar will deliver on-farm benefits such as more accurate heat detection and animal health and welfare monitoring. “The AfiCollars are among the best in the world and, we believe, well suited to meet the unique challenges of NZ’s pastoral dairy environment,” he says. Afimilk chief executive Yuval
“Farmers need to be able to choose the technology and products that are best suited to them.” Wayne McNee Rachmilevitz says he is excited to be cementing a new agreement with LIC for the distribution of AfiCollars. “We share a combined commitment to enabling farmers to continually improve on-farm productivity through new technology, and it is exciting to be further enabling this in NZ,” he says. McNee says LIC is looking to work with other leading NZ and international technology providers to continue to offer the very best options for farmers wanting to utilise new technologies coming to market. “The ‘connected cow’ wearing this technology will shape the future of the dairy industry and help NZ maintain its world-leading edge in precision farming,” he says. n
The AfiCollar is a cow neck collar that monitors cow rumination, eating, and motion which will integrate with LIC’s Protrack system.
DAIRY FARMER
February 2021
