Livestock Engineering Machinery and Techniques for Cattle Husbandry

The economic conditions in general (liberalization of the agricultural market, rising volatility of prizes, high competitive pressure, growing herd sizes etc.) require an increase in labor productivity of dairy husbandry. Therefore more and more automated technical solutions are used in dairy farming. Today automatic milking is a well-established technique for milking. Milking robots as single box or multi box systems are already installed on more than 10.000 farms worldwide. Also, a first system is offered for automatic milking in rotaries. The next step in automation is automated basic feeding, first systems are in use on practical farms. Automated processes demand suitable sensor and herd management systems, a clear need for development and optimization exists in this area.