Welcome to the interest group

'Data management'

Within this group you can find informative resources related to important aspects of data management in dairy farming. 

“Which herd management system best suits my farm?”

Visit the warehouse of technologies to discover over 15 different herd management systems on the market.

“What benefits can the use of a smartphone bring to my farm?”

The data management best practice guide gives an introduction into the use of smart phones for data management, also take a look at a case study of how a farmer has benefited from using a data management app.

“Can changes in data management systems improve reproductive performance on my farm?”

Take a look at a case study of how investment in Herd Navigator contributed to improved reproductive performance.

“Do you have a favourite way in how information is presented?”

Go to the forums and let us know, or upload a photograph of the computer screen

Introduction

The explosion in the numbers of sensors on farm has led to an exponential increase in the amount of data produced. What is the value of this data? The answer depends on how data is effectively included in daily management.

This interest group concentrates on strategies that will create value from data, save farmers’ time, including best practice in displaying data to get information, compare dairy management systems through case studies, and look at the future benefits that may arise from storing data.

Initially dairy sensor technology were standalone single issue systems, for example; pedometer heat detection systems that just measured the number of steps a cow took. Current research shows the benefit of including lying time, eating time and rumination rate into the calculations. But no matter how complex the calculation, we cannot provide 100% certainty, what we can do is identify animals that stockmen need to focus their attention on – using their skill in combining data information with stockmanship to come up with an action. Better decisions are made with this combination rather than using technology alerts or stockmanship alone, especially as the stockman’s time is spread over more and more animals.

Topics covered in the best practice guide include:

• User interfaces
• Gaining trust in your technology
• Herd management systems
• The use of smartphones for data entry
• Cloud based systems
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarking
• Data and breeding
• Data security and data ownership