DeLaval® Voluntary Milking System (VMS™) units can now be offered with ISO identification. The product which is based on several years of development and testing is in line with expected lifetime traceability legislation and will enable farmers to take advantage of the cost efficiency of the ISO identification system.

In recent years animal lifetime traceability has become an important issue in dairy farming. In a number of countries legislation has already been passed that requires cows to be fitted with ISO ID ear tags. Furthermore, animal lifetime traceability legislation is expected to be implemented in more and more countries the coming years. In view of such legislation and to increase customer savings, all DeLaval VMSTM units can be offered with HDX (half duplex) ISO identification as from January 2012. In practice this means that a cow can have the same ISO ID ear tag throughout her entire lifetime.

DeLaval VMS Business Development Manager, Jouko Tiainen says, "In order to launch the system we had to make sure that it works at the same performance level as our existing identification systems as nothing else is acceptable with a robotic milking system. After several years of development and testing at large scale farms, we are now in a position to release it to the market."

It's not only the DeLaval VMS unit that is ISO compatible. All related products in the VMS barn system such as feeding stations, calf feeders and cow traffic control solutions can also be delivered with ISO identification. Existing DeLaval identification systems for VMSTM farmers will continue to be supported, however those farmers can over the long term also benefit from the introduction of ISO identification into their systems.

"The ISO identification VMS units can be installed in both existing and new VMS barns, and be integrated with the DelPro herd management system," continues Tiainen. "With this system, farmers get an accurate and cost effective way to identify their animals," he concludes.

12.21.2011