Everyday dairy producers are pushing the effort to improve on-farm practices and technologies. One way is SmartHolstein Lab, which was launched by Holstein USA in partnership with Western Kentucky University.
“As everybody kind of moves forward in the dairy industry progresses like we are getting so much more into technology,” said Customer Success Specialist Jenna Williamson. “It should be able to be easier for farmers, so that there’s not this constant labor need, and technology and software is basically going to be the forefront of the dairy industry.”
The WKU herd is designed to milk 50 cows with associated replacements at the WKU Agriculture Research and Education Center. The lab has been established as an easy-to-access demonstration and development farm to explore new technologies designed to collect novel phenotypic traits including wearable or indwelling sensors and milk-based biomarkers.
