How can solutions from JOZ increase the milk yield of a cow?

If you’re a dairy farmer, you obviously want to get the most out of your herd. How and what you feed your cows, i.e. your feeding strategy, affects their health, and therefore milk yields. If you want to increase the average milk yield per cow, solutions by JOZ can offer a helping hand. In this article, we explain the role of automatic feed pushing with a feed pusher robot.

Increase milk yields by pushing feed more frequently

If you want to increase the milk yields of your livestock, it’s a good idea to take a critical look at the feed pushing component of your feeding strategy. To keep things calm in the cowshed and promote natural eating behaviour, cows need access to fresh feed throughout the day. Feed can be pushed towards cows in various ways, such as with a loader, telehandler, tractor, or a feed pusher robot.

If you push feed with a loader or tractor, it probably happens no more than 3 times a day. After all, it’s a time-consuming task. Having feed pushed automatically by a feed pusher robot both saves you a lot of work and can actually help improve milk yields.

A feed pusher robot, such as the Moov 2.0, pushes feed more often and continuously. This is a more efficient method than pushing feed sporadically, and increases the probability of better milk yields per cow.

1.5 litres more milk per cow

How does that work? More frequent feeding and pushing feed means there’s more fresh feed at the feed fence. This results in cows spending more time eating each day, and therefore a higher intake of dry matter. This is important for a healthy pH level in the rumen. If cows have insufficient fresh feed available, the pH value can drop, making them more likely to suffer from intestinal complaints or rumen acidosis.

In theory, therefore: The more dry matter ingested by a cow, the better it is for the cow and the more milk the cow produces. And an increase in feed efficiency naturally means higher milk yields for you as a dairy farmer.

So, what does a feed pusher robot actually deliver in terms of milk yields? Imagine the Moov 2.0 feed pusher robot pushes the feed 11 times a day for you. This results in a 3 to 10% increase in dry matter intake. And that yields an impressive 0.5 to 1.5 litres more milk per cow per day!

The effect of frequent feed pushing on behaviour

Not only does automatic feed pushing result in your cows ingesting more, it also has a positive effect on the behaviour of your livestock. If there is too little feed at the feed fence, competition and conflict arise between the cows. This has a negative effect on cows lower in the ranking. Automatic feed pushing means there is fresh feed at the feed fence more often, which reduces competition and gives the low-ranking cows a chance.

Stress and conflict at the feed fence only arise if there is too little roughage or too few eating places. Cows lower in the ranking will always wait until the more dominant cows have finished eating. They eat quickly and often less than they actually need. If there is always enough tasty food available, this stress is limited.

Various studies have also been conducted into the effect of frequent feed pushing on cow health. Pushing feed more often benefits both claw health and the prevention of udder inflammation. We will explain exactly how this works soon in an information article. Keep an eye on our website and social channels, and you will be the first to know.

Count it yourself!

One common question, of course, is how much a feed pusher robot costs and how long it takes to repay the investment in a feed pusher robot. It depends on the number of cows, the number of minutes of feed pushing, the yield per cow, and the milk price. To illustrate this, here’s an example.

Dairy farm data:

Number of cows	100
Annual milk yield per cow	8.500 – 9.000 kg
Milkprice	€ 40,00
Number of minutes of pushing feed	15 – 30 minutes
Savings per year	€ 5.490,30

As you can see, switching to automatic feed pushing can already yield almost €500 per month in cash alone! The exact amount depends on the exact circumstances on your farm.

If you’d like to find out how much you can save in your specific situation, fill in the calculation calculator. You’ll receive the result automatically by e-mail in your mailbox.

More info?

To find out more on how solutions from JOZ’s can contribute to increasing milk yields, please contact your local dealer for full information. We’ll gladly tell you more about it.