Dairy feed company GrainCorp Feeds is offering a free milk monitoring and prediction tool that aims to help farmers increase their productivity.
The tool, called Tracker, uses the latest in data analytics combined with nutritional information from GrainCorp Feeds to give accurate predictions on the farmer's average daily milk solids, including percentage of milk fat and protein. Tracker also provides live feedback on milk quality including somatic cell count and milk urea when that data is available. This data provides farmers with invaluable insights into the herd's nutrition.
"Tracker provides real time monitoring and predictive analytics to put the power in the hand of the farmer," General manager of GrainCorp Feeds Daniel Calcinai says. "By understanding the impact of different nutritional profiles on output, it allows farmers to quantify the benefits of investing in feeds and ensures they are getting maximum returns. Dairy farmers can input their weekly calving patterns and set production targets for the season based on an accurate estimation of milk flow. By identifying the herd's overall potential and monitoring it in real-time, it helps farmers to choose the right feed at the right time and consequently improve productivity".
The free tool has been used by sharemilkers Ernst and Antonia Hut over the past year and they have seen their herd's milk production climb by 10 per cent.
The couple, who milked 215 cows on 82 hectares at Honikiwi in the Otorohanga district last season, pushed production up to 107,000kg of milk solids with 35 less cows.