Myerscough College’s Lodge Farm is to become the first in the UK to invest in state-of-the-art technology that instantly analyses cow’s milk at source.
Afimilk’s Milk-Lab is an innovative in-line system that has been developed over the last decade in Israel.
It works by recording data on milk produced from each individual cow in a herd. The AfiLab element of the system acts as a real-time analyser of the milk’s components, accurately measuring levels of fat, protein, lactose, blood detection and 10-day average Somatic Cell Count banding.
This enables the farm to quickly identify and act on any potential feeding or health issues, improving milk production, milk quality and the longevity of the herd.
'Significant investment'
James Oddie is Myerscough College’s Director of Farming Innovations and Operations, and explains the technology: "It’s a significant investment to the farm here at Myerscough and it will move us forward leaps and bounds in our ability to manage our herd. The potential for research and data we can get is phenomenal.
"Milk gets analysed from each individual cow to check if it has mastitis or other illness. There’s also a pedometer leg tag monitoring system so we can monitor potential distress levels, as well as identifying digestive problems, fertility issues, and lots more. The key is the fact that we will be able to make quick management decisions on individual cows."
Although the installation is predominantly for the College’s commercial operations, learners on agriculture study programmes will have access to some of the data generated by the system. This will give students a much more rounded experience of dairy farming with instant access to information.
Milk lab
Chris Howarth is Afimilk’s National Sales Manager, and says: "This will be the first of our official milk labs in the UK.
"We are currently active in 50 countries around the world and our aim is to provide milk producers with superior technology to manage and control dairy farms, enabling profitable production of high quality milk and dramatic improvement of animal welfare."
Since the Afilab technology was first introduced in 2008. The system was used initially to detect blood in milk, but from there we found it can do so much more.
"There are many components to the system. As well as the AfiLab and a milk meter, the Afitag element is crucial for a college farm. Not only an identification and activity pedometer for the cows, the additional benefits of monitoring individual, group and herd animal behaviour ensures the highest level of health and welfare monitoring."
