The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.
What time did the first feed delivery happen today? Are all push-ups done when they should be? Are milkings taking too long? Do my weekend staff perform as well as my weekday staff? New insights, provided by dairy tech company Cainthus, gives producers clear answers to all these important questions.
When dairies become larger, the team also gets bigger. Management of people and protocols becomes more important to prevent low feed availability, optimize breeding, health and welfare, but also for staff motivation and team performance. This sparks the need for a clear overview of what is going on the farm and a practical way to adjust and improve when needed.
Doing things right, every time
Dairy tech company Cainthus introduces ALUS People & Protocols, a unique tool helping producers to get more control over their farm. Smart insights are delivered daily on their phone, tablet or desktop and enable them to identify problems, see how their team is performing and how well protocols are being followed, so that dairy producers and herd managers can make the adjustments when needed or award staff members when things go really well. Using a smart camera system placed in the barn, ALUS People and Protocols monitors two of the most important operations on the farm, getting the cows fed, and getting them milked. The 24/7 monitoring ensures that these operations are done right, every time.
Feeding performance indicators:
• First feed delivery of the day: Is it happening when it is supposed to?
• Time between clean-out and first delivery: This is a critical metric measuring how low the cows are left with no feed.
• Percentage of push-up completed: Are they happening as expected? Do we meet our target?
Milking performance indicators:
• Number of milkings on time: what is the start time for each milking compared to the scheduled time? How consistent are the milking start times?
• Length of milking: Are cows standing too long? Which days are the worst?
Eye-opener for dairy producers
ALUS People & Protocols identifies the major issues in a timely and unbiased way, with clear indications on what needs to be improved. As a result, protocol compliance will improve and further labor efficiencies will be driven, resulting in an enhanced herd productive time and an increase in profitability. A dairy producer, based in Minnesota, U.S., tested the product and says: “One of my employees has been with the farm for 14 years. We discovered through the ALUS People & Protocols, that he was not doing push-ups on his watch. In fact, all of the missed push-ups related to him. When he was questioned, he said that he didn’t really like doing push ups. This astonished me because he has been one of my best employees. So from that perspective, it’s quite an eye opener; the tool gave me confidence to have a discussion with him about how we could adjust and improve”.
Solutions to manage your feed, labor and herd
Steve Kickert, Cainthus CEO, adds that the insights on People and Protocols provide peace of mind to producers as they are in control of what’s happening with their feeders and milkers. “Cainthus has now installed its technology on several major farms in the U.S., tracking tens of thousands of cows. We worked hard to ensure our technology provides meaningful value to producers. That’s exactly what we just did with our latest edition to our portfolio by putting the focus on people management and protocols.”
