Walton Farm Cows
Improvements
Wireless broadband at the Dairy
(click to enlarge)
Solar powered wireless repeater
(click to enlarge)
Because each animal is identified by a radio tag, some herd management processes can be automated. Animal records, housed in the Protrack software package, developed by the Livestock Improvement Corporation, can be checked prior to milking. Protrack can issue alerts for cows which need to be identified for any range of animal health or management needs-as programmed by the farmer. The software may be linked to a system of automated drafting gates, which, depending how they are programmed, can automatically separate animals from the rest of the herd.
On one occasion Protrack set off an audio alarm to warn David and Raewyn Bennett that a cow being treated with antibiotics had slipped unnoticed into the milking herd. If the technology hadn't alerted them to the interloper, it could have contaminated the 30,000 litre vat of milk and potentially the entire tanker load.
The key to integrating the different monitoring and management systems is communication. The farmhouse and cowshed at Walton Farm are connected to the Internet with Xtra wireless broadband, while an 802.11 Wi-fi network supplied by the Rural Link extends coverage across the farm. Broadband Internet access provides the farmers and their staff with access to databases held by Fonterra and Livestock Improvement. Similarly, Fonterra uses a remote monitoring service (RMS) track milk vat temperatures and levels, which will allow the company to better coordinate milk pick-ups. David and Raewyn can access the same milk vat data, even while they are away from the farm.
