December 26, 2023

John Deere and DeLaval collaborate to launch milk sustainability centre for dairy farmers

Two major players in the agricultural industry, John Deere and DeLaval, have joined forces to introduce the Milk Sustainability Centre, a platform designed to consolidate data from dairy farmers, enabling comprehensive evaluation and decision-making regarding sustainability impact and operational efficiency, Farmtario reported.

The primary objective of the Milk Sustainability Centre system is to provide farmers with a benchmark for their operations by assessing performance indicators and nutrient use efficiency.

Dairy farmers typically employ various data systems to manage milking, herd health, and genetics. But only a few software packages integrate field operations, creating a need for a unified solution.

Benjamin Buechner, manager of production systems advanced engineering at John Deere, said that farm systems are complex that very often farmers very well know what to do, what is the right thing to do, but sometimes it's too much of an effort for them to gather the right data to support the decision-making.

The Milk Sustainability Centre, showcased at the Agritechnica farm machinery show in Hannover, Germany, acts as a centralised hub, bringing together data from various sources, including milking equipment, herd management, and field operations.

The collaboration involves DeLaval, John Deere, and Dairy Data Warehouse, a DeLaval subsidiary specializing in cleaning data from disparate sources. The tool addresses the global demand for measuring nitrogen and carbon intensity, with a focus on efficiency, nutrient costs, and sustainability. Farmers can monitor current nutrient and carbon efficiency and set target numbers for future changes.

The system enables farmers to benchmark their operations for carbon footprint per kilogram of milk, encompassing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. It also facilitates benchmarking nutrient use efficiency, linking nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium usage with corresponding outputs.

The Milk Sustainability Centre is expected to go live in North America and parts of Europe next summer. Farmers can sign up now to receive notifications when the platform is ready for use. There is no cost associated with using the centre, except for potential expenses incurred if farmers need to gather additional data at the farm level.

-      Farmtario