BOTTOM LINE
THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2019 SECTION D
Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
Cow health priority with robots PDPW STAFF
MADISON, Wis. – As was evidenced by a standing-room-only audience at the 2019 Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Business Conference in Madison, dairy producers are eager to learn more about implementing robotic milkers into their dairies. A trio of international experts said focusing on cow welfare and health is the first item dairy managers need to address before installing robots. Dr. Nigel Cook, veterinarian, is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, a professor and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. He spoke about Cook cow mobility, lameness and bedding options to consider in automated-milking systems. Based on his years of veterinary experience, Cook said American dairy producers are behind their European counterparts in adopting automated-milking systems. According to recent data milk-production averages 70 to 80 pounds per cow in robotic herds. Lameness prevalence averages 26 percent to 32 percent – an unacceptable rate compared to the 13 percent typically seen in well-managed conventional herds. Cows invariably prefer deep-bedded sand as compared to other bedding options. Yet only one-third of herds using automated-milking systems in the upper Midwest use sand in stalls
Kurkela
CONTRIBUTED
A box robot made by GEA features technology to complete all steps of the milking process in one attachment. that way. Dairy producers are familiar with the managerial disadvantages of bedding with sand, not the least of which are notable wear and tear on equipment. Flooring type plays a critical role in hoof health. Slatted floors in facilities are associated with increased lameness risk as well as poor air quality. And yet they’re making a comeback in facilities with automated-milking systems. Currently 22 percent of facilities with automated-milking systems have slatted flooring, compared to almost none in conventional herds. Further compounding the hoof-health problem, only 70 percent of facilities offer access to a footbath. Only one-quarter of
the herds drive cow traffic through the footbath at the recommended frequency of four times per week. “It’s not surprising production and lameness is disappointing,” Cook said. Joining Cook during the session were Dr. Virpi Kurkela, veterinarian, and architect Jouni Pitkäranta, both with 4dBarn Consulting. That’s a Finland-based consulting business regarding automated-milking systems-facility design. “A barn is a tool for milk production,” Kurkela said. “No matter the objective for dairy-cattle buildings, the barn design must allow for excellent cow comfort and health as well as functionality
and efficient work flow. This is particularly true of facilities in which robotic milkers will be used.” Cook agreed; cows with mobility problems don’t visit the robots as
frequently. “You do not want a lame cow in a robot,” he said. In Finland 35 percent of milk is produced by cows milked in automated-milking systems. Kurkela described the three main reasons to choose robotic milking as “labor, labor and labor.”“Using robots is physically less demanding,” she said. Other advantages include more flexibility in work routines and expanding the herd without adding labor. But installing robots won’t necessarily make an operation more efficient. “A robot itself doesn’t solve animal health or labor challenges,” she said. “It’s all about barn design and the management around it.” Pitkäranta has designed about 700 dairy barns in seven European and Scandinavian countries. He outPitkäranta lined 10 essential elements in automated-milking-system barn design to support good hoof health, overall cow comfort and efficiency in labor. a comfortable deeply bedded stall adequately designed for cow size
LYNN GROOMS, AGRI-VIEW
A laser serves as a teat-position sensor in a Lely robotic milking system. access to food and water with at least 24 inches of bunk space per cow and 3.5 inches of accessible water-trough perimeter per cow socially stable groups free from cows exhibiting aggressive behaviors 10- to 12-foot-wide stall alleys, 14-foot-wide feed alleys, and 14-foot-wide crossovers between the feed and stall alleys sufficient area in front of the robots for open access by cows wanting to be milked – at least 20 feet footbath location that allows for voluntary cow traffic and easy walk-through appropriately grooved concrete flooring training gate for heifers to learn to attend the robot before they calve fresh pen with 24-hour access to designated robots to promote smooth transitions, three-timesper-day milking and optimal health Please see ROBOTS, Page D2
Control dry period to reduce ketosis
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ubclinical ketosis is a common fresh-cow challenge that affects even the best-managed herds. Zeroing in on excellent care of transition cows is critical to optimal herd health, reHENRY HOLDORF production and production levels. Dairy producers know the impacts of subclinical ketosis. decreased milk production and increased cull rates in the first 30 days worse first-service conception rates more incidence of displaced abomasum When considering cows with both subclinical and clinical ketosis, the economic burden amounts to about $289 per case. Research done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the laboratory of Heather White led to the development of KetoMonitor. It’s a tool that uses milktest and cow-management data to assess if a cow has subclinical ketosis. In partnership with AgSource Cooperative Services, KetoMonitor is helping researchers better understand how on-farm practices may be tweaked to curb the effects of the costly disease. Among other points of data, length of dry period and its impact on subclinical ketosis was recently studied. Farm records collected by AgSource show the average dry period for cows with subclinical ketosis is 66 days. That compares to 55 days for cows that don’t develop subclinical ketosis. That doesn’t mean a longer dry period will cause subclinical ketosis. But it does indicate those cows may be at greater risk and they’ll need extra attention after calving. First-lactation cows are at lesser risk of developing subclinical ketosis than mature cows. But first-lactation cows that develop subclinical ketosis have a better somatic-cell count at first test compared to non-subclinical-ketosis cows. Research shows an average log
score of 3.75 in primiparous cows compared to 2.8 in mature cows. Interestingly the difference in first-test somatic-cell count between the two lactation groups is much smaller in mature cows. Peak milk is better in cows without subclinical ketosis, averaging 81 pounds compared to 75 pounds in cows with subclinical ketosis. The same pattern can be observed in second and later lactations – cows without subclinical ketosis averaged 109 pounds compared to 106 pounds in cows with subclinical ketosis. Those observations show that cows developing subclinical ketosis in their first lactation produce less milk and have compromised
udder health early in lactation. One extra pound of peak milk is estimated to increase 305-day milk yield by more than 200 pounds. The potential milk-production losses of primiparous cows with subclinical ketosis is 1,200 pounds. For multiparous cows with subclinical ketosis the potential loss is 600 pounds. At $14 per hundredweight, that equals $168 and $84 for the lactation. Cows with longer dry periods were more likely to develop subclinical ketosis. Those subclinical-ketosis cows had lesser peak milk and a better somatic-cell count at first test. The research doesn’t demonstrate that subclinical ketosis causes each of those negative outcomes. But know-
HENRY HOLDORF
ing the symptoms may help producers determine which cows are affected so they can intervene sooner.
Henry Holdorf is a doctoral fellowship student with Purina Animal Nutrition, working in Heather White’s laboratory in the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Email hholdorf@wisc.edu to reach him.
“The more we use it, the more we love it!” — Bryan Landsverk “This is the second year in a row we bought the gallon of Udder Comfort™ at the Dairy Forward auction during Central Plains Dairy Expo. The first year we bought it thinking we wanted to use it more. The more we use it, the more we love it,” said Bryan Landsverk when he and Bridget stopped by the booth. They have six robots milking 320 cows at Landsverk Dairy, founded by Bryan’s grandfather near Fosston, Minnesota, which is Certified Organic since 1997.
Quality Udders Make Quality Milk
Keep the milk in the system 1.888.773.7153 1.613.652.9086 uddercomfort.com Call to locate a distributor near you. For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.
“We keep this in the robot rooms and spray the SCC cows exiting. We use it on fresh cows, fresh heifers especially. “Udder edema and robots are not a good combination. Softening udders with Udder Comfort works so well for us. We are glad to have this product.”
LANDSVERK DAIRY, FOSSTON, MINNESOTA Bryan and Bridget Landsverk 320 cows, 6 Robots Certified Organic since 1997