A Canadian start-up company says results from its artificial intelligence-based classification of dairy cows come within two per cent of human results. Animal science specialist Ghader Manafiazar, one of three co-founders of iClassifier, says through the analysis of approximately 30,000 images collected from Canadian dairy farms, an accuracy rate of 98 per cent was achieved […] Read more
Dairy — page 17
Taking the human out of dairy cow classification
Canadian start-up eyes artificial intelligence-based dairy cow evaluation
Lactanet embarks on LPI modernization process
Predictive production index has become cumbersome, complicated
A long-standing tool for predicting the milk production performance of dairy cattle daughters will be “modernized” to make it more user-friendly and reflective of contemporary knowledge about feed efficiency. During Lactanet’s recent open industry session, Chief Services Office Brian Van Doormaal gave a presentation entitled “Modernizing LPI (Lifetime Performance Index)” and later said he had […] Read more
Cows managed precisely in new robot milking barn
Cows can be sorted in five different directions out of the robot
A change in generations mean the building of a new barn, robotic milking and new way of working at Ferme Desnette. On Oct. 20, 1200 people attended the open house at the farm in Warwick, Que. Owners Marianne Desrochers, Mikael Dumas, Carl Desrochers, and Sandra Verville met with visitors and showed off their new barn, […] Read more
Methane breeding tool’s developers look to long-term adoption
Uptake has been slow among producers, but the discussion on methane efficiency has begun
Uptake by Canadian dairy producers of a new breeding tool aimed at decreasing their herd’s methane emissions hasn’t been overwhelming, representatives of Semex Alliance admitted recently. However, given the potential long-term interest, neither Semex nor the organization with which it partnered on developing the tool is concerned. Why it matters: The Canadian dairy sector’s commitments […] Read more
Tech simplifies hog feed monitoring to reduce down time
FeedFlo system monitors feed pipes to ensure feed is flowing
Glacier FarmMedia – Successful technology often arises from figuring out how to simplify something that’s exceedingly complex. That’s what Casey Forsyth and his team at FeedFlo think they’ve managed to do with their feed pipe monitoring system. Their model is working in scores of barns in the U.S. hog belt, where it accurately measures whether […] Read more
A Canadian option for managing dairy data
A new herd health record-keeping app will join CATTLEytics ‘Moo To Do’
CATTLEytics is creating a dairy data software program designed to streamline barn management regardless of operation size. Data is generated to various degrees on many farms, ostensibly to help farmers make decisions. However, the journey to those answers often needs clarification. Why it matters: Data from sensors is becoming more available to many Ontario dairy […] Read more
Milk price increase paused
The 1.77 per cent increase would have come into effect on Feb. 1
Dairy Farmers of Canada has requested that a recommended 1.77 per cent increase in the price of milk at the farmgate be delayed. The Canadian Dairy Commission each year reviews the costs of production of dairy farms and decides whether there’s justification for a price increase. “Dairy farmers and their families are also consumers and […] Read more
Bringing food influencers and producers together has benefits
Improving urban understanding of agriculture industry underscores Food and Farm Care tour
Poonam Dattani, a Markham-area registered dietician, now feels better equipped to provide her clients with dairy and beef production facts. She was part of Farm and Food Care Ontario’s September tour of the University of Guelph Elora Dairy and Beef Research facilities and Soil Health Interpretive Centre, which provided registered dieticians, chefs and food influencers […] Read more
System delivers suite of dairy data every 2.2 seconds
Connecting data to the cloud, not on-site computers helps to increase speed of data interpretation
A new technology from dairy equipment company DeLaval helps monitor in-barn cow behaviour, with updates every 2.2 seconds. The company used the 2023 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show for the official North American launch of its DeLaval Plus Behavior Analysis tool for monitoring in-barn cow behaviour and herd health. Why it matters: Advancements in artificial intelligence […] Read more
Dairy farmers challenged to make tough genomics choices
Heifers at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show displayed competing genomic priorities
At Rose Vega Farm near Cambridge, Luke and Kelly Donkers agree that emotion sometimes creeps its way into dairy breeding decisions. But at the recent Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (COFS), Luke also agreed that when it comes to overall dairy farm profitability, genomics is a valuable tool. “There are probably more grey-haired cows on our […] Read more
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