Healthy herd, high production

Evaluation of cow health is crucial for maintenance of high animal welfare and quality of the production at dairy farm. Different technologies are available for evaluation of cow behaviour and welfare, but new farm-level innovations are still needed to detect diseased dairy cows.

The aim of project “Healthy herd, high production” is to find new farm level solutions for cow blood sample analysis and lameness detection. We validate the reliability of handheld device for cow blood calcium level measurement and sensors for cow lameness detection. We also strive to develop a snap-test for measurement of cow blood creatinine kinase concentrations for muscle damage detection. The project is targeted to dairy producers, workers at dairy farms and to other specialists among this field. New technical solutions for evaluation of cow health and welfare are introduced to Finnish dairy producers in this project. Hence, the sustainability and production of dairy industry are supported by innovations increasing dairy cow health and welfare.

The Unit of Measurement Technology of University of Oulu has developed digital farming solutions for long term and gained knowledge about the newest technology on this field in national EIP-projects and within international collaboration. This project is operated in Kainuu in Northern Finland together with local dairy farmers. The results of this study are actively and extensively published both nationally and internationally. The project continues the long-term cooperation with Estonian Dairy Cluster and its EIP AGRI Operational Group.