The high-tech company Afimilk, a success story of the Israeli agrotech industry, this week reported a new record: more than 10 million cows in 52 countries around the world are currently managed by the company’s technology.
The technological tools developed and manufactured by Afimilk make it possible to monitor parameters such as the amount of milk given by each cow, as well as the ratio of milk components and other data that help diagnose the physical condition of each and every cow.
According to Gil Katz, head of the research group that deals with data science and machine learning at Afimilk, data retrieved from the sensor on a cow’s neck can alert regarding cows that are not sufficiently rested, send a real-time alert to the mobile phone of the attending veterinarian regarding the onset of calving, or about a litter that has become entangled and needs assistance.
Afimilk was founded in 1977 in Kibbutz Afikim in the Jordan Valley. Inspired by inventor Eli Peles, the company began to focus its activities around the dairy farm in general and computerized milking systems in particular, and since then it has been its main field of activity. In 1979, a milk meter made by the company was first launched, and in 1984, Afimilk introduced a computerized management system for the dairy farm.
The company develops, manufactures, and markets advanced management solutions for cowsheds that include computerized systems, monitoring systems, dedicated software based on advanced algorithms, smartphone applications, and IoT architecture that includes smart sensors, and remote control and monitoring. Afimilk’s products are currently marketed through more than 250 vendors worldwide.
“As the herds grow, the roles of farmers become more and more managerial, which increases the potential value of the technology,” Katz explains. “The Business Intelligence (BI) tools we provide to farmers, the dairy managers, are essential because they replace a comprehensive review of data-intensive reports. The tools we provide allow farmers to predict the amount of milk and the economic performance of each cow, as well as the economic significance of management decisions such as dietary changes, inventory forecasting that allows for better decision making regarding the purchase, preservation, and expenditure of animals, and the prognosis of diseases at the stage before the onset of direct symptoms.”