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Precision farming

Background:

Future Dairy was developed to address future farming solutions for Australia, with a focus on three key limiting resources - land, labour and water.

Future Dairy 2 targets the development of future dairy systems through the intensification of home grown forages and the incorporation of automatic milking and other new technologies.

FutureDairy 3 will extend automated milking systems (AMS) to larger herds (400+ cows) and address critical gaps in the farm system required to support VMS. A parallel research program conducted at University of Melbourne aims to increase industry knowledge around the uptake of information and communication technologies relating to AMS.

Project objective:

Identify and develop solutions for the major constraints on adoption of AMS in pasture based farming systems, particularly with large herds.

Project scope:

Precision farming comprises quantitative and qualitative research activities designed to develop economically and environmentally sustainable farming systems, and improve farmers’ lifestyle through AMS and other new technologies.

For AMS, whist many of the principles required for voluntary cow traffic have been established, critical gaps in knowledge remain that must be filled to make AMS a success in Australia. Future Dairy 3 will investigate these gaps.

Outcomes/benefits:

Successful adoption of AMS can deliver more efficient use of on-farm labour, and a better lifestyle for farmers. Specific outcomes for Future Dairy 3 include:

  • Enhance opportunities for AMS adoption by addressing barriers to AMS in general, and rotary automatic milking systems in particular.
  • Make AMS more competitive with conventional technology by addressing key limitations that restrict the potential for increased production on AMS farms.
  • Support for new installations of AMS and rotary automatic milking systems, and address appropriate site-specific challenges with research and/or extension of existing knowledge and expertise.

More information:

For more information, contact Mick Blake, Dairy Australia Animal Performance Manager.

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