Robotic milking equipment software provides an at-a-glance summary for whole herd performance. The Cow Corner Cow Performance Report gives more detail, grouping cows by number of lactations and stage of lactation for more complete analysis. The Production Performance section is included in the weekly report provided to Cow Corner customers with a monthly subscription. Here are the questions the report can answer.
Lactation Groups – Is each lactation group performing at a level that supports whole-herd expectations? – First lactation cows are expected to produce 70 to 80% of their mature herd mates. Cow Corner reports 5 performance indicators, by lactation group, to show what each group is doing.
Stage of Lactation – Is each stage of lactation performing at a level that supports expectations for the whole lactation? –The Cow Corner report has separate evaluations for less than 40 DIM, 40 to 100 DIM, 100 to 200 DIM and 200-300 DIM so you can tell which groups have strengths and which groups have opportunities.
Daily Milk Production – Does daily production at each stage of lactation match the expected lactation curve? – Sometimes first lactation cows under 40 days in milk don’t reach their potential daily yield and limit the herd average. Other times late lactation cows may not maintain the daily production they should.
Daily Milkings – Is the number of milkings for each group consistent with production goals and system capacity? – Early lactation cows need more milkings than late lactation cows. Reporting by lactation and days in milk helps to make sure each group is milked at the right frequency.
Yield per Milking – Is the yield from each milking optimizing udder capacity and system efficiency? – Yield per milking can be used to fine tune milking permission settings. Groups of cows that average over 40 lbs may need more frequent milking. Groups that average less than 20 lbs have cows that are being milked more often than needed.
Rejections/Refusals – Are cows in a free-flow environment coming to the robots often enough to achieve the desired number of milkings? – A rejection or refusal occurs when a cow comes to the robot and is released unmilked because she is not ready to be milked. A minimum of one rejection per cow per day demonstrates that cows come to the robot often enough for the number of milkings they need.
Gate Passages – Are cows in a guided flow environment coming to the robots often enough to achieve the desired number of meals and milkings? – A gate passage is counted each time a cow is identified at a gate. More gate passages mean more opportunities for eating and milking. Week to week changes in gate passages indicate the effect of management changes in the barn.
Passages to Feed/Passages to Milk/Total True Passages – How many of the gate passages measured by the system are actual milkings and meals? – Milking equipment software gate passages include meaningless events when cows don’t really move to a new area. This Cow Corner performance indicator only includes gate passages that result in a meal or a milking – the behaviors we really want to measure.
Contact Cow Corner to see a sample copy of the Cow Performance report for your farm.
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