Evaluation of automated in-line precision dairy farming technology implementation in three dairy farms in Italy

Abstract

In recent decades, dairy farms have been exposed to wide variation in profit levels due to a considerable variability of milk price, and energy and feed costs. Consequently, it is necessary for the dairy industry to improve efficiency and productivity by adopting innovative technologies. The automated in-parlour milk analysis and separation is mainly useful to produce low or high quality milk and to monitor the animal health status. Milk with high levels of protein and fat contents may reduce the intensity of standardization during cheesemaking process, reducing production costs. The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of real-time milk separation during milking and the performance of the milking machine after implementation of AfiMilk MCS. In addition, the economic aspects were assessed. The separation of milk required the existing milking parlors to be equipped with an additional milkline to allow channeling milk with low and high coagulation properties into two different cooling tanks. The results showed that the high coagulation milk fraction, compared to the bulk milk, increased in fat (from 18% to 43%) and protein (from 3% to 7%) concentration. The technology tested has given promising results showing reliability and efficiency in milk separation in real time with affordable implementation costs.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

cheese yield / infrared analysis / milk quality / real-time measurement / sensor

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the farmers that collaborated in the study, and to the dairy plant cooperative and their team who kindly collected and provided farm data. This work was supported by the Rural Development Program (Sardegna) 2007/2013, MEASURE 124, cooperation for the development of new products, processes and technologies in the agricultural and food sectors, as well as in the forest sector. Project Innovalatte Arborea.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Maria Caria, Giuseppe Todde, and Antonio Pazzona declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.

All applicable institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2019. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)