ROBOTIC MILKING (Multiple Sessions)

Dr. Kees de Koning is leader of the Farm and Chain Management research cluster at the Livestock Research Institute of Wageningen, The Netherlands. Current activities of the group include projects on milk quality, health and welfare and mobile robotic milking in the pasture.  As project leader for many Dutch and European Union initiatives on robotic milking, Kees is the ideal speaker to provide an overview of this technology and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

SOLUTIONS FOR PROFITABILITY

Dr. Jeffrey Bewley is Assistant Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist, specializing in  Dairy Systems Management, Dairy Decision Making, and Precision Dairy Farming, at the University of Kentucky. Jeffrey is a young scientist with a keen appreciation for the opportunities automation provides for more precise management. His own work is in economic assessment of Precision Dairy Farming technologies, body condition scoring, and temperature monitoring, but he is one of only a handful of North American experts that can define the role of these technologies in large mechanized dairy herds today and in the future.  . 

Link - http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/faculty/bewleyjeffrey.html

MILK QUALITY

Dr. Henk Hogeveen, Business Economics Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Dr. Hogeveen has conducted extensive research in milk quality aspects of robotic milking, including automated mastitis detection, use of line sensors and interpretation of data from multiple sources. As a scientist that also has a strong talent for economic analysis he provides a very practical perspective on investment in precision technologies.

Link - http://www.wewur.wur.nl/popups/vcard.aspx?id=HOGEV001&lang=uk

NOVEL TECHNOLOGIES

Dr. Ephraim Maltz is a dairy scientist at the Volcani Institute in Israel.  Dr. Maltz’s areas of expertise include animal physiology, physiology of lactation, dairy management including robotic milking, heat stress effects, precision livestock farming, livestock behaviour and welfare, sensing and monitoring individual livestock performance and behaviour. His contributions to precision automation make him a world leader in this field.

Link - http://www.agri.gov.il/en/people/717.aspx

REPRODUCTIVE MANAGEMENT

Dr. Jeff Durkin is the Technical Service Veterinarian and Herd Health Specialist for DeLaval covering the Western USA. He has played a major role in the development and implementation of many precision technologies such as pedometry and automated monitoring of milking practices and brings a wealth of practical experience to the challenges of applying automation to large American dairies. 

HEALTH MANAGEMENT

Dr. Stephen LeBlanc is Associate Professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College of the University of Guelph. He does applied research on metabolic and reproductive diseases in transition dairy cows, and he has recently initiated Canadian field studies of automated activity monitoring systems, as part of ongoing research for predictors of health in the transition period and for improved reproductive management. He will provide an overview of the application of precision technologies for health management in the peripartum period. 

Link - http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/cfmx/popm/faculty/people/index.cfm/individual/sleblanc