Milk Producer - May 2010 - (Page 37)

RUMINATIONS By Blair Murray Better breeding Collecting and analysing vast amounts of data from robot milkers could speed up genetic improvement ith almost a quarter of its dairy herds using automated milking systems (AMS), Denmark is already looking into ways to harness this potential for genetic improvement. AMS, when coupled with an increasing array of in-line milk sensors, can generate masses of data that could measure important traits. However, says Uffe Lauritsen of the Danish milk recording organization RYK, this great potential comes with challenges. How data from these farms are shared—or possibly not shared—and how these issues are dealt with in the next few years will determine the future shape of dairy genetic improvement, he told the recent North American Conference on Precision Dairy Management. Denmark has 845 AMS herds averaging 168 cows each on milk recording. At 22 per cent of all dairy herds and 27 per cent of dairy cows, it has the highest AMS concentration of any country in the world. Introduced in 1992, the technology W Measuring genetic traits consistently by machine improves accuracy. has spread worldwide, especially in the past few years with just over 8,000 AMS farms reported in 2009— more than 90 per cent of them in northwestern Europe. North America has relatively few AMS farms, but the number is growing as the technology becomes more aligned with the style of dairying on this side of the Atlantic. The number of milkings per cow on AMS farms averages between 2.5 and more than 3.0 times per day, although 10 per cent of operations average less than two milkings per day. Time between milkings can vary widely. Ruminations is prepared by Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs livestock technology specialists to provide information you can use on your farm. Data collection opportunity These milkings create a great opportunity to increase data collection frequency and accuracy. In-line sensors to monitor milk quality and milk flow can generate this data to measure important traits. Studies have been done on the best methods to record every milking with a view to finding an economical way of handling this data. One option is to transfer these huge volumes of data to the milk recording agency, but it could raise concerns about capacity and costs for storage and analyses. Nevertheless, the Danish milk recording agency is taking the bold step of capturing all AMS herd data, and managing it within its database. The most exciting development as this technology progresses are trait measurements from in-line sensors: milk quality, electro-conductivity, milk flow and milking time, as well as a host of milk component data MilkPRODUCER | May 2010 | 37

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milk Producer - May 2010

Milk Producer - May 2010
Contents
Editor's Note
DFO Chair's Message
Provincial Perspectives
Dairy Update
National Policy
Farm Finance
Retailers Spotlight
DFC Promotion
The Future Arrives
Farm Business
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Markets
New 'N" Noted
Back Forty

Milk Producer - May 2010