Latest time temperature recorders a boon to farmers

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

TTRs are a requirement under the national Canadian Milk Quality Program, but the new Q3 model may be one that they will actually want, according to maker Dairy Cheq

by DON STONEMAN

The newest version of time temperature recorders (TTRs) is on its way to the province's dairy farms, pending some developments and final approval by Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

The new Q3 model is in use on a limited number of Ontario dairy farms, according to Ken Smid, product development and support technician for manufacturer Dairy Cheq, as well as on 42 U.S. farms as of last February.

Time temperature recorders have been required by law in Ontario dairy farm milk tanks since 2008. The Milk Act states that a recorder must display a visual alarm every time the temperature of the milk rises above 10 C, except for one hour after milking, or over 5 C more than two hours after milking. If the milk isn't agitated for five minutes every hour, an alarm goes off and also sounds if the temperature in the tank dips below 1 C or if the power goes off. On top of that, the recorder must maintain the information in it if the power fails. The device monitors cleaning of the milk tank itself and also the milk lines leading into the tank.

The Q3 device communicates with the barn manager via smartphone if there is a problem with the temperature of the milk in the tank or the cleaning water. Alarms can be sent to the barn manager by text, email or even by telephone call, Smid explains.

Time temperature recorders are part of the requirements of the national Canadian Quality Milk (CQM) assurance program, Smid says. The CQM program requires barn managers to record why an alarm went off on their TTRs.

Britt Bowra, head of Dairy Cheq's TTR business unit, says the newest version changes TTRs from a device that farmers must have to a tool they want to have. There are some approvals still to be obtained from Dairy Farmers of Ontario and also from Dairy Farmers of Canada, which runs the CQM program. Every farm in the CQM program must have a TTR.

There are Q3s on some farms, but they aren't approved for all uses, cautions Graham Lloyd, communications director, Dairy Farmers of Ontario. (The marketing board also wields powers to regulate the production of milk in Ontario.)  The Q3 "is approved for use where it will function," says Lloyd. "The new TTRs are approved for single milking and cooling systems and are not yet approved for robotics as more programming is underway for robotic milking and cooling systems." He adds that "the use of TTRs has led to a significant improvement in reducing the amount of rejected milk."

Automatic monitoring system provides early detection of dairy ailments

Colorado has been tagged as the second-fastest-growing dairy state in the United States, so it is no surprise that some new dairy technology is coming out of there. Scott Asnicar, vice-president of business development for DVM Systems LLC in Greeley, says their TempTrack automatic health monitoring system uses sophisticated software and "highly reliable" boluses to provide early detection of illnesses such as mastitis, metritis and pneumonia three to five days in advance of clinical symptoms in dairy cattle by monitoring cows' temperature. Calving can be predicted 12-36 hours in advance.

Radio frequency boluses in cows send a signal first to a receiver and then to a base station for collection and interpretation on a farm computer. The farm computer can be a standalone, or it can be connected via high-speed Internet to a remote backup system or for accessing by a herd veterinarian, says DVM Systems' CEO, Kevin Wild.

The system is now being used on some farms in the United States. A test project at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, N.S., was put on hold when that institution was amalgamated with Dalhousie University in 2012, Wild says. He hopes the research there will be resumed.

Wild aims to make collar transponders on cows obsolete. Farmers tell him that managing ID collars is troublesome.

Asnicar estimates that a working system for 100 cows with a single indoor receiver could cost as little as US$10,550, plus installation and materials. Wild advises American clients that the information should be aggregated in a computer with an i3 or i5 Pentium processor, preferably operating separately from regular farm management. He says that, in his experience, many U.S. dairy farms now work with computer technology that is as much as 10 years out of date.

The DVM system "is highly scalable" depending upon the number of cows in the operation, Wild says. As well, more than one receiver may be necessary depending upon cow density in the facility and also on the amount of steel and reinforced concrete in its construction.

There are no clients using the system in Canada yet, Wild says. A dealer, S.E.C. Repro Inc., is located in Ange-Gardien de Rouville, Que., east of Montreal.

Asnicar thinks customers are waiting until a new breeding module becomes available, probably later this year. He says it will predict when cows are in heat. BF