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Pedometer and chewing counter: cow observations around the clock

2021-03-17T15:07:34.033Z


Cows whose steps and chewing processes are counted, cows that can be mechanically massaged: all of this is available in Grub. A visit to “DigiMilch”.


Cows whose steps and chewing processes are counted, cows that can be mechanically massaged: all of this is available in Grub.

A visit to “DigiMilch”.

Grub - Curiously, the cow Amelie comes to the edge of the free-range stall and lets Dr.

Caress Isabella Lorenzini.

There are more cows behind Amelie, and one of them strolls over and over to the automatic massage and cleaning brush for the back placed in the barn and lets herself be pampered for a moment.

Do the happiest cows in the world live in Grub (municipality of Poing)?

Lorenzini laughs.

She and her colleague Stefanie Kulig answer in unison: You can't say one hundred percent whether they are the happiest.

In any case, the cows in Grub are the best observed and looked after far and wide.

This herd, with around 60 animals, is very special: At the Grub site of the State Office for Agriculture (LfL), the digital experiment field "DigiMilch" has been carried out since October 2019, the project is funded by the federal government with around 3.4 million euros.

Project duration: four years.

There are 14 such digital experimental fields in Germany.

The aim is not to break the connection between humans and animals, emphasize Lorenzini and Kulig, but rather: to make the farmers' work easier and to make it as pleasant as possible for the animals.

The 29-year-old Isabella Lorenzini is the project manager of DigiMilch in Grub, Stefanie Kulig (27) is the PR manager.

In particular, she is responsible for ensuring that the project is carried out into the world by Grub on the LfL website and on the social channels Instagram and Facebook.

More than ten employees work on “DigiMilch” at the site.

In the project, for example, behavior and frequency of rumination are measured and counted (using a sensor on a collar) as well as the movements of the individual cow.

For this purpose, the animals wear a sensor around one leg, similar to the fitness tracker used by recreational and professional athletes.


Despite all the digitization: the cow remains an animal and does not become a number

“In the past,” explains LfL press spokeswoman Sabine Weindl, whether it was, to put it bluntly, the grandpa or grandma who spent several hours every day observing the animals to see how they were doing.

Nowadays the farmer in a modern, family-run dairy farm no longer has that time.

There are already digital solutions such as feeding and milking robots to support the farmer.

Both were and are also used in Grub.

The very first milking robot that was used there is now on display in the Deutsches Museum.


With "DigiMilch" further possibilities are being tested.

"Observe, observe, observe" is what Weindl calls the most important task in animal welfare.

Observe how the cow behaves in order to draw conclusions whether everything is OK or whether treatments or changes are necessary.


Despite all the digitization and research: The cow remains an animal and does not become an anonymous number in the computer, emphasizes Isabella Lorenzini and pats Amelie again.

"Here all cows have a name, we all know them." Digital and analog.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-17

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