When dairy farmers need to assess their cows’ Milk Urea Nitrogen, or MUN, they send samples to labs for analysis. However, new technology on the horizon, which will provide dairy farmers with real-time data via a smartphone app, might change everything.
MUN is a material that is made up of nitrogen. As it leaves the body through urine, it decomposes into ammonia, which may pollute the air, provide fertiliser to surface streams, and contaminate ground water.
Nitrogen is the most crucial component of proteins, and dairy cows require a lot of it to keep their lactation going strong. Protein is one of the most expensive ingredients in a high-performance dairy animal’s diet, and MUN calculates how well that protein is used. MUN levels that are very high may indicate that an animal is consuming more protein than it can use.
Dairy farmers will be able to adjust the diets offered to their animals based on real-time data provided by the programme.
In recent years, the Indian dairy industry has profited immensely from technology-driven goods, services, and solutions, much of which can be ascribed to agricultural and dairy entrepreneurs.
Let’s have a look at some of the most notable dairy technologies of the 21st century:
Cattle Health Monitoring Devices
Health difficulties have an impact on cattle output, longevity, and reproductivity. Every year, farmers spend a significant amount of money on the health and well-being of their cattle. Due to wearable animal electronics that are comparable to human fitness trackers, farmers may measure, monitor, and regulate cattle’s health, nutrition, behaviour, pregnancy, milking frequency, milk production abnormalities, and activity level in real time.
Machines for milking cows that are controlled by robots
Farmers may minimise physical labour needs, maintain a hygienic milking technique, milk cows at any time of day rather than on a regular schedule, and enhance milk yield with robotic milking devices.
Drones that monitor cattle
The livestock monitoring drones can track the animals in the fields and herd them back to the barns. Thermal sensor technology is used in certain drones, allowing them to track animals based on their body heat. Drones can also take pictures of pastures and tell you if they’re suitable for cattle grazing.
Freshness of Milk
Thanks to technological advancements, milk can now be recognised for freshness and preserved for longer lengths of time. Naturo, an Australian food technology company, has developed a way for preserving natural milk in the refrigerator for at least 60 days without the use of chemicals or preservatives. Researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed a smartphone-app aided paper sensor kit that can assess the freshness of milk and determine how well it has been pasteurised in India.
Marketplaces for E-Commerce
Many online B2B marketplaces in India, such as AgroStar and Gold Farm, have been built to provide sophisticated equipment and consulting services to the doorsteps of farmers and dairy producers via their cellphones. FreshVnF, WayCool, and FarmLink, for example, are B2C systems that harvest fresh fruit from farms and carry it to retail customers, cafés, hotels, and restaurants.