We’ve been watching new technologies, especially digital ones, arrive – but things are about to get interesting. Robots are the obvious technology with the potential to disrupt the dairy industry as we know it, but there are many other technologies ready to adopt right now you probably never noticed.

Why should a 21st-century dairy farmer have to approach his business as if he’s still in the 20th century? Agriculture remains the least-digitized industry, says the McKinsey Global Institute.

In recent decades, genetic advancement has improved milk production and composition but at the cost of fertility and life span. At the beginning of lactation, cows have high energy requirements due to an increase in milk production. When a cow is unable to consume enough energy, excessive body fat mobilization will occur, resulting in loss of body condition, indicating a negative energy balance.