From South Africa to NZ: Afimilk Success Story

The 125ha (effective) farm at Pirongia, owned by Autaki Trust, had just embraced Afimilk technology - the first farm in the country to do so.

The farm owner Mark Brown was looking for a system that could identify individual cows and provide daily information for management decisions.

Vandenberg, from the Eastern Cape, did his practical course at university on Afimilk and started working on a dairy farm which was the first to embrace Afimilk technology in South Africa.

He recalls being tapped to come to Pirongia and help with calibrations and train Brown and his staff.

"I was here for about a month-and-half but had no idea that I would end up working here one day," he told Dairy News.

After returning home, Vandenberg maintained contact with farm owner Mark Brown.

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Then a drought impacted his province and suddenly, Vandenberg found himself out of work. A job offer from Brown enticed him to move to NZ eight years ago.

He loves working in the NZ dairy industry.

"It's almost like the same as home: the temperature, the climate are the same.

"The only difference is staff numbers; NZ farms employ lot of less staff.

"In South Africa, you've got four or five times more staff. On this farm we have only three full-time staff including me.

"A similar-sized farm in South Africa would have 25 to 30 workers: everyone had jobs."

The Autaki Trust Farm started with Afimilk milk meters which gave the farm detailed data about each cow's milk production to support better decision-making on the farm.

Over time, the farm added Afimilk pedometers, a sensor on the back leg of a cow. This identified the cows on the milking platform and provided weight and feed data. In 2023, the farm moved to AfiCollar, a neck collar providing real time date on accurate heat detection, accurate rumination and eating time, individual cows health alerts, group digestion alerts and 24/7 wireless detection and management.

Vandenberg says Afimilk collars have been a game changer.

"With the collars we can catch cows earlier when they got sick, because stopped ruminating and there are more health alerts especially around calving."

The farm also has AfiFarm, which provides easy farm management and mobile app access and Afi2Go Prime, which syncs with AfiFarm for real-time date.

Vandenberg describes the Afimilk system as "a user-friendly program" where everything's integrated.

Vandenberg says Afimilk collars have been a game changer.

"So, there's 10 different thing that the collars do, you can set up one sound cloud and involves just one software player.

"And, you don't have to scratch around to find data. You can create your own reports and own data. You don't have to wait for somebody to do it."

The Afimilk system adds crucial senor points on the farm, Vandenberg says.

"You've got the collar, which is one sensor point, you've got the milk meter, which is another volume of milks."

Cost Savings

There are also health benefits and cost savings.

"You just see a cow with the eye, and you think does she look okay? It's guesswork, right?" says Louis Vandenberg.

"And normally you would have to get the vet out before she's dead and then it's like, it's too late now.

"Now you catch it when she's starting to go on her dip, before she gets sick. The system identifies the cow and you act straight away and don't need to get a vet out for the extra costs."

Mastitis Detection

Mastitis is also picked up early.

The farm's somatic cell count (SCC) averages around 80,000 to 100,000 consistently throughout the season.

"Because we're getting the mastitis earlier, we're able to treat them quicker, get them back into the milking shed without any long-term effects on the cow," says Vandenberg.

The Afimilk system also means less use of labour - not having to go to the paddock to find the cows on heat and not having to use tail paint.

"Now that we've got a system that finds the cows for us, we can mate all season using artificial," he says.