Walton Farm Cows
Background
Over the past decade or so, competition from other agriculture producers (often subsidised ones) has heated up considerably. This is particularly true in commodity markets, such as milk powder and frozen beef. New Zealand farmers have had to intensify operations to remain competitive. The dairy sector has intensified by increasing the number of stock units per hectare and boosting milk production. The number of dairy cows in the country increased 34% between 1994 and 2002; while the amount of land used for dairying increased 12%.
When David and Raewyn Bennett began farming their property 12 years ago, they milked 300 cows; this season they milked up to 940. Effective management of a herd this size depends on being able to identify individual animals and monitor a range of herd and individual cow variables. But gathering data and manually recording it can be a tedious and labour intensive chore, and, furthermore, data is only valuable if it can be turned into information. In management terms, information is most valuable when it can be accessed and applied in real time.
