New Age Technologies: A Boon To The Dairy Industry

Indian dairy industry works mainly on the procurement. Taking an average of two cows each, farmers are main suppliers of milk milk brands and large cooperatives. Most of the major brands we know are processors and not milk producers.

With large scale farms being set up by businesses as well as besoming producers by owning cattle, the dairy industry is going through several major changes. By roles adopting of both producers and suppliers, they are getting an edge by having complete control over the milk efficiency, quality and production.

Boutique farms having capital and cattle, implementation of technology is the only factor required to make it a profitable business . Certain aspects of management of farm if handled via technology is cost reducing and increasing the efficiency of operations. Such as:

The Health of the Cattle

High yielding cattle depends entirely on their health. So to track the health of a several cattle’s at a farm is difficult, to make it easy trackers available in the market same way as smart watches work. These trackers also monitor heart rate as well as other vital signs of the cow. By analyzing their movement patterns some trackers can also track the heat period and other aspects. An overview of health reports are available with the veterinarians who help in quick response.

Anomalies in Milk Production

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are examples of technologies used to track the health of cows. Animals are given an unique identification number helping track animal’s production and understanding health patterns. Such technologies as well as the hardware installed at farms, for example milking parlors, are able to identify cows or buffalo’s. After identification, milk production matched with production history and standard patterns in order to identify and understand anomalies. Identifying such anomalies help dairies to increase production efficiency and reduce losses.

Field to Yield Impact 

Fodder plays a vital role in production of milk, because of its direct impact on the taste and quality of milk. Feed constitutes main cost in a dairy’s operation. Therefore, it is important to make sure good quality feed ensuring a better yield in both quality and quantity. In India milk processors pay the producers on the basis of the fat level meaning higher the content of fat, more the payout. The dairy farms have to document such aspects of yield and feed to get required information as well as higher understanding of feed to yield impact.

Product Lifecycle Tracking

A big difference can be made by tracking the lifecycle of milk. In case of value added products the margins for milk processors are higher to the market and the quantity that comes back – within expiry range. Milk returned while still in expiry range can be converted to other dairy products like, paneer, ghee, curd, buttermilk, etc. reducing the losses and also adding to the profit margin. Therefore tracking the product lifecycle, for eg tracking retailers having products about to expire as well as collecting them timely, with the help of an alert system can make huge difference.

Last Mile Delivery

Last mile delivery includes dropping off milk either to the retailer or to the house hold (in case of B2C). Both B2C and B2B deliveries require management of cold chain to avoid spoilt products and also to maintain quality. Tracking of logistics and route optimization along with temperature reporting are some simple options to do the same. In many cases, the pouches develop leaks, while the bottles and the crates used get damaged, leading to losses. These losses are not entirely avoidable, but understanding the root cause or identifying the problem areas can help in corrective measures being taken. The first step to solving a problem is recognizing that there is one.