In order to guide all localities to better cope with the new problems and challenges encountered in the practice of digital village construction, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other departments recently issued the "Digital Village Construction Guide 2.0". Among them, in terms of smart agriculture, the successful experience of developing digital dairy farming in Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has become a classic case.
Litong District is the core area of dairy farming in Ningxia and a major county for dairy farming in China. What kind of "smart life" do the cows live here? The reporter conducted an interview.
Digital technology at the service of the cows' daily life
Ningxia Xingniu Ranch, located in Litong District, Wuzhong City, breeds more than 3,500 Holstein cows.
The digital milk parlor of Xingniu Ranch.
"It's a technical job to raise cows well and produce high milk." Wang Yadong, general manager of Ningxia Xingniu Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd., told reporters that with the upgrading of the milk industry and the development of digital technology, the extensive breeding model has long been unworkable. "Today, the entire ranch is managed by a digital system, which is a game-changer compared to traditional farming methods."
In the smart ranch, a cow is guaranteed by digital technology from birth to daily eating, drinking, and health management.
"For example, we have adopted an intelligent precision feeding system to make the cows eat more scientifically." Wang Yadong introduced that in order to make dairy cows healthy and have a high milk production, the feed must be rich in nutrition. "The feed that these cattle eat every day is composed of more than a dozen raw materials in a scientific ratio, including soybean meal, corn, forage, vitamins, etc. How much to add to each ingredient, whether it is stirred evenly, how many times to feed the cow when feeding, and how much to feed at one time, each step is related to the health of the cow. ”
With the intelligent precision feeding system, this is much easier.
"As long as the workers put different raw materials into the feeder according to the feeding amount prompted by the system, just like loading the printer with different inks, the feeding system will automatically control the mixing and mixing according to the program, and then accurately put the feed into the cow's trough according to the portion, which not only improves the feed conversion rate but also reduces feed waste." Wang Yadong said.
The barn in which the cows live has become very comfortable under the control of an automated and precise environmental control system.
The temperature, humidity, ammonia concentration, light intensity and time of the barn are uploaded to the digital management platform in real time. When to turn on the fan for ventilation and when to spray, all of which are automatically controlled, saving energy and increasing efficiency. The high-altitude lookout PTZ camera set up in the ranch monitors the production safety of the pasture in real time, and can monitor abnormal fire points and abnormal cows out of the circle.
Each cow also has its own "smart bracelet" to monitor its activity trajectory and health.
"The cows have a small box tied to their hind hooves and wrists, which is a smart pedometer, a cattle monitoring device based on Internet of Things technology. It can upload cow activity data to the background in real time, conduct data analysis, record cow health, and help realize cow zoning management. Wang Yadong said that in the past, the ranch needed at least 5 veterinarians to be responsible for the health management and health care of dairy cows, but now only 3 can be used, "If there is a problem, the system platform directly warns and distributes work orders, and it is not difficult to manage thousands of cattle." ”
Efficient management drives efficiency improvement
With good food and good housing, cows will naturally produce more high-quality milk.
"The income from selling milk accounts for more than 90% of the total income of our farms, so automated milking is a key part of the construction of smart farms." Wang Yadong told reporters that the ranch has a digital milk parlor. In the middle of the parlor is a 3,000-square-metre rotary milking machine.
The huge ring turntable is constantly rotating, and the turntable is divided into 72 small compartments, each of which is just the right size for a cow to stand on. After the cows are taken out of the pen by the workers, they go straight to the turntable and can carry out the processes of medicated baths, milk tests, cups, milking, etc.
The milk is pumped directly into the milk storage equipment, and the supporting quick-cooling equipment cools the milk to 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in 30 seconds, which is also the most conducive temperature for milk preservation. "The farm produces up to 50 tonnes of milk per day. The milk is produced and delivered to the dairy in Litong district within one hour, ensuring maximum freshness. Wang Yadong said.
Digital management keeps everything else on the farm in order.
"Including the warehousing of raw materials, the work plan of workers, and the weekly, quarterly and monthly work summary of each department, etc., are arranged by the ranch digital management system, which greatly improves the management efficiency." Wang Yadong believes that "the digital equipment and digital management platform serving dairy cows together constitute a complete smart pasture system, which opens up the information channel between people, cows and dairy products, and realizes the intelligent breeding of dairy cows." ”
The staff of Ningxia Xingniu Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. operates the digital management platform.
In order to better carry out digital management, many of the employees employed by Xingniu Ranch are compound talents who have mastered digital technology and breeding technology. According to reports, the ranch has more than 60 staff, of which 1/4 are technicians who have mastered the operation of digital equipment. "The monthly salary of these digital breeding talents is about eight or nine thousand yuan, and some people have a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan." Wang Yadong said.
Policy support promotes smart development
In Litong District, Wuzhong City, Xingniu Ranch's digital development path is not unique.
"We're just a medium-sized farm, and now we have more than 100 dairy farms in Litong." Wang Yadong said that since the ranch was completed and put into operation in 2021, it has received strong support from the local government in terms of digital construction.
"As a demonstration farm of digital smart ranch, the district gave us policy project support and technical guidance at the beginning of the production of digital equipment. The district has also built a big data platform for comprehensive information of dairy cows, and the data of our ranch is also directly connected to the platform, so that the production and operation of the ranch can be connected with relevant government departments in real time, which is particularly convenient. Wang Yadong said.
The relevant person in charge of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Litong District said that in recent years, focusing on the goal and task of building a "100-billion-level milk industry" in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the district has focused on digital construction, actively implemented projects such as 5G+ smart pastures, dairy production capacity improvement, and county-wide promotion, and promoted the integrated development of grass and livestock support, modern smart pastures, and dairy farming and breeding.
"The milk industry is the leading industry with the characteristic advantages of Litong District, and it is also the pillar industry of agriculture in Litong District." The person in charge told reporters that up to now, Litong District has built two dairy cow ecological breeding bases in Wulipo and Sunjiatan, and built 103 large-scale dairy farms, and the improved breeding rate and mechanized milking rate of dairy cows in large-scale farms have reached 100%. In addition, the existing dairy farms have all realized digital management, and the dairy cow big data platform in Litong District has been built through the project, and a total of 37 digital smart ranches and 1 5G demonstration ranch have been built.
It is reported that in the second quarter of this year, there were 240,000 dairy cows in Litong District, with a fresh milk output of 591,000 tons, and an average annual yield of more than 9.8 tons of adult cows. The average milk fat rate of raw milk reached 3.8%, and the milk protein reached 3.2g/100g.
"In the future, we will continue to promote digital dairy farming, and strive to build a high-quality high-end milk source base, so that more farmers and herdsmen can benefit, and let high-tech milk come to the tables of more people." The relevant person in charge of the Litong District Agriculture and Rural Bureau said.
丨Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
丨Editor of this issue: Feng Xiaomin
丨Proofreading: Feng Xiaomin
丨Producer: Zhang Yao Feng Bin
丨Director: Zhao Min
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