Approximately ninety people attended the Precision Dairy Showcase hosted by the University of Kentucky (UK) on Dec. 3, 2012.
Jeffrey Bewley, assistant extension professor in the department of animal and food sciences, created the event to offer a setting where dairy farmers, students and researchers could come together to discuss the use of Precision Dairy Technologies in research and on farms.
“We are doing quite a bit of research with multiple technologies at the UK Coldstream Dairy,” Bewley said. “This event provided a chance for industry and producers to see these new technologies in action.”
Bewley led the discussion by providing an overview of precision dairy farming, explaining the importance and potential of the field. Ten experts from UK's animal and food sciences, biology, and engineering departments spoke, followed by ten students who conduct research at the University of Kentucky using precision dairy technologies.
Presentation topics included:
- Estrus detection
- Nutrition monitoring
- Disease detection and surveillance
- Image analysis
- Sleep monitoring
- Producer adoption concerns
- Real time location systems
- Precision milking
- Behavior monitoring and cow comfort
- Temperature monitoring
- Heart rate monitoring
The last presentations were from two Kentucky dairy producers, who discussed their experiences with the precision dairy farming technologies used on their farms. In the afternoon, meeting attendees traveled to the University of Kentucky’s Coldstream Dairy farm where several technologies were featured.
Meeting attendees were able to interact and discuss ideas over lunch and dinner, catered by the University of Kentucky Dairy Club as a fundraiser. PD
PHOTOS
Photos courtesy of University of Kentucky.
