The importance of data in animal husbandry

As an agricultural entrepreneur you want to have a firm grip on your business operations. But you are also facing a market characterised by more rapid change than ever before. Spiralling costs for feed and energy are placing increasing pressure on your profit margins. And today's market demands sustainable and responsible production methods. At the same time farms are increasing in size and are located on various different sites. But, despite the size of your farm, you still want to be able to control the processes in your house on a daily basis: Are the animals healthy? How can I reduce medication use? How much feed and water is being consumed? Are the animals growing as expected or should I change my delivery schedules? All issues you are keen to have under control.

Insight into animal performance

Insight into the processes in the house is vital if you aim to achieve optimal profits. That is why it is so important to know precisely what is going on in your house, even when you cannot actually be present yourself. The daily growth rate and intake of feed and water are important indicators of animal health. Abnormal patterns may indicate the start of a disease and require early intervention to prevent it becoming worse. Water measurement is a good example. Water meters are used in many houses but the measurement data is not collected automatically. The data is then unlikely to be used, even though changes in the water intake are generally more visible than changes in feed intake or growth. A decrease in the water intake almost certainly indicates health problems.

Utilise the data from your houses

The process computers in the house, such as the climate, feed and weighing computers are a source of valuable information about the surroundings and the behaviour of the animals. A high volume of data can be collected. Sometimes maybe even too much, which will cloud the overview. Data collection is just part of the story, you have to actually do something with the figures. Data must be converted into insight. Linking the process computers with the management software on your PC allows the data to be easily combined and presented in clear graphs and overviews. This makes it much easier to compare the data with previous cycles, benchmark the results against your goals or compare the results with the industry standard. A management system takes a lot of work out of your hands by automatically generating useful overviews that are geared to meet the needs of various employees. You don't need to leave anything to chance. Based on concrete facts and figures, you can consult with your employees and farm advisors such as feed suppliers or the veterinary practitioner. This gives you perfect control of your entire production process.

The convenience of perfect insight

All the data you collect and automatically receive about your farm can be turned into a much more powerful tool than simply a retrospective analysis of your performance. Farmers who want to make progress can utilise their data to monitor the situation daily and respond rapidly by making changes if necessary. The ability to steer the processes with greater precision based on up-to-date data from the house is a huge advantage, particularly on larger farms with multiple sites and a large workforce. The data should be presented in a handy and practical format, for example in an app on your cell phone. So you don't even have to be physically present in the house to access your data or adjust settings.

Time saving

The more data you collect from the houses and monitor remotely (for example, via the PC or smartphone), the better equipped you can to anticipate certain abnormalities. You can view the running time of your ventilation system, heating and lighting, plan regular maintenance, check on stocks and update animal mutations from a distance. Your computer or cell phone can alert you about any alarms. And, if necessary, you can easily adjust the settings in the control computers remotely to improve the processes in the house and boost the efficiency of your production. This saves time and makes your daily workload lighter. You will be notified automatically as soon as a value deviates, so there is no to check your screen continually.

Transparent operational management

Data is primarily essential to improve your operating results. It also offers a way of demonstrating how the animals are housed and raised thereby guaranteeing the license to supply Data can, for example, be used to prove that you use little or no antibiotics, that the animals are provided with enrichment material and have permanent access to drinking water. Supermarket chains, food service and consumers are critical and consider transparency into these aspects to be increasingly important. Automatic data collection on your farm gives you an easy way to demonstrate your commitment to animal welfare.

Do you want to use complete farm automation in your business?

To the blog overview

Insight into animal performance

Utilise the data from your houses

The convenience of perfect insight

Time saving

Transparent operational management

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