The automation of feeding for dairy cattle: why yes, why not?

Many agricultural activities (some authoritative estimates say almost 40%) are potentially automated as they are repetitive and predictable. Furthermore, currently, there is also the difficulty in finding personnel willing or, above all, suitable to perform some tasks. This last aspect is of utmost importance not because repetitive agricultural operations are trivial, but, indeed, because they require a correct relationship between man and the “biological system” (plant or animal) with which man must interface. If we take bovine nutrition as an example, the subject of this conference, we see how it is not just a production element, but also affects economic, health, well-being, safety, “typical” production, quality of livestock products that derive from it, of energy and environmental sustainability and, last but not least, of acceptability by consumers. The automation of feeding with unifeed rations today may be an option to consider. During the conference, three possible levels of automation will be illustrated (1. sensors for the quality of the ration, 2. feed pusher, 3. complete systems for distribution), the aspects relating to the introduction into the building structures, the situation in Italy and the opinions of the partner breeders of the AutoFeed project.d.

Program

09:30 – 09:40. Registration of participants

09:40 – 09:50. Project presentation. Carlo Bisaglia (CREA)

09:50 – 10:10. The automatic systems for the distribution and approximation of the unifeed ration: technological solutions. Andrea Lazzari (CREA)

10:10 – 10:30. Considerations for entering the stable. Paolo Rossi (CRPA)

10:30 – 10:50. Diffusion in Italy: a constantly updated situation. Massimo Brambilla (CREA)

10:50 – 11:00. Break

11:00 – 11:20. Some energy aspects and the possible role of data generated by automatic systems. Aldo Calcante, Francesco Tangorra (UniMi)   

11:20 – 11:30. The connection with other European Projects: the R4D and BovINE projects. Kees de Roest (CRPA)

11:30 – 11:40. What breeders say: a questionnaire. Simone Giovinazzo (CREA)

11:40 – 12:30. The partner breeders of the project.

12:30 – 12:45. Exchange of ideas and considerations from social networks.