Drafting gate added to monitoring system

A sorting gate has been added to an integrated cow-monitoring solution. Datamars Livestock’s Tru-Test Active Tag + Dairy Drafter is designed to enhance efficiency, save valuable time, and allows producers to focus on critical management tasks.

The gate automatically drafts pre-selected cows as they exit the parlour, allowing producers to easily separate animals in heat or with potential health issues. It’s designed, using patented technology, to work with any parlour system or setup.

The Tru-Test Active Tag solution takes a fresh approach to activity monitoring, delivering cow insights in record time, with a suite of precision software features that turn cow behaviour into real-time information about heat, health, reproduction issues, and more.

The gate requires virtually zero maintenance after installation, and the Active Tag comes in collar or ear-tag options, and is designed to stand up to the rigours of the dairy environment.

The drafting gate is compatible with rotary, herringbone, or rapid-exit parlours. Integrating drafting into daily parlour routines reduces cow stress and promotes animal welfare.

The cows that are not drafted can resume normal activity, decreasing herd lock-up times and increasing milk production.

Energise every visit to the robot

A molasses blend designed for use in robotic milking systems to help drive visit frequency and increase milk yields, has been launched by ED&F Man.

Developed in conjunction with nutritionists and robotic milking-system users, Robomol is formulated and produced to ensure it is easy to handle and will pass easily through the filters of any automatic milking system. A cost-effective source of sugars, containing 64% total sugars as a proportion of dry matter, palatability is further improved through the addition of a banana flavouring.

“This palatability helps encourage more visits per day to the robot,” says the company’s Georgina Chapman. “The sugars in the product help to stimulate rumen function and microbial protein production – both essential for productive cows. The inclusion of multiple sources of glucose precursors provides the high levels of energy particularly needed by fresh calvers and high yielders.”

Typical feed rates are between 0.5kg and 1kg per head per day. Robomol is available in 1,000-litre IBCs.