The new system – unlike those which analyse dairy-farm output by batch sampling – enables analysis of the nutritional quality of milk from each animal; as a result, if nutritional parameters are deemed inadequate, dietary measures can be targeted at the individual animals concerned with a view to correcting milk composition.
The device is based on NIR technology, which uses near-infrared radiation to measure individual products; apart from being fast, the technique is non-invasive, i.e. is has no impact on the product being analysed.
The portable instrument for on-farm measurement of milk composition makes use of data previously transferred from a laboratory instrument using mathematical models. The instrument is linked to a database containing over five hundred reference fresh-milk samples.
The research, carried out in conjunction with the Asturias Regional Agrofood Research and Development Service (SERIDA), is part of a project run by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Research and Technology (INIA). Further research will be carried out into this specific area of what is termed “precision livestock farming”: the use of sensors in conjunction with information and communications technology in order to improve livestock monitoring and efficiency throughout the production process.
References:
Fernandez- De la Roza-Delgado, B; Garrido-Varo, A; Soldado, A; Arrojo, AG; Valdes, MC; Maroto, F; Perez-Marin, D. Matching portable NIRS instruments for in situ monitoring of indicators of milk composition. FOOD CONTROL