Spin out company delivers high tech solution to boost milk production
University of Strathclyde spin out company, Embedded Technology Solutions, (ETS), has joined forces with dairy management company, National Milk Records, (NMR), in an exclusive partnership to supply computerised cow collars to the UK dairy industry.
The collar and its supporting software system, called Silent Herdsman, continuously monitor cows’ activity and cleverly detect changes in behaviour related to fertility which enables producers to improve herd management, leading to better herd health and productivity.
ETS has developed Silent Herdsman using ground-breaking technology funded by a £4.75m Scottish Enterprise research and development programme set up to help drive commercialisation of Scotland’s capabilities in sensor and network technology.
With growing global demand for dairy technology, the global financial benefit associated with monitoring cow behaviour to perfect timing of fertilisation is estimated at around $2billion per annum in lost milk volume.
Ensuring a traceable, sustainable milk supply has become paramount to the global dairy industry with large production houses such as Kraft, Nestle and DANONE under increasing pressure to meet market demand.
Annette MacDougall, chief executive, ETS, said: “Our core technology represents a compelling platform for heat detection in dairy cattle that can scale well beyond the competition in terms of performance, accuracy and overall predictability of animal behaviour.
‘”We are pleased to have signed a strategic partnership with NMR for the UK market as we set forth to realise the benefits of the collaborative research and development programme initiated by Scottish Enterprise. NMR is ‘best in class’ within the industry and represents the best partner of choice in our go-to-market strategy for the UK.”
By Q3 of 2010, ETS will be active in the international markets notably, USA and Canada.
Lena Wilson, chief executive, Scottish Enterprise, said: “We are delighted that following on from the successful commercialisation of the technology, ETS has secured its first deal to take Silent Herdsman out to market.
“Scotland is well placed to capitalise on the future global market opportunity and lead the world in the application of sensor and network technology in animal welfare. This early success proves that we boast well established skills and expertise in both research and commercial fields and have the potential to realise significant economic gain from the exploitation of sensor and network technology.”
The technology was developed by Professor Ivan Andonovic and colleagues at the University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Engineering, which is renowned for world-leading research and teaching.
Professor Jim McDonald, Principal of the University, said: "Innovative research has a crucial role to play in securing Scotland's economic future. I'm extremely pleased to see this latest example of Strathclyde technology being deployed in an important sector of the economy.
"The ETS story reflects Strathclyde's mission to enhance its successful links with business and industry, and underlines the positive impact these partnerships can have on wider society. The combination of cutting edge research, timely public sector backing and the creation of a high quality business leadership team has led to an exemplar in commercialising our research. We look forward to watching the company go from strength to strength."
NMR supplies dairy management services, including the market leading software system InterHerd, to around 50% of dairy producers in Britain and the majority of leading dairy vets and consultants.
“Silent Herdsman brings enviable accuracy levels and significant advances to fertility monitoring on our dairy farms,” says NMR managing director Andy Warne. “Movement technology has advanced considerably and, at the same time, heat detection is becoming far more challenging. Priced competitively, we are confident that the system will be attractive to many progressive producers in Britain. And looking ahead, we are keen to see the technology develop, linking in with our current software systems and being applied to other important management functions.”
The commercial potential for the underlying technology used in the cow collars is significant with possible applications spanning many industries such as the farming, industrial and energy sectors.
Notes to Editors
The global dairy market grew by 3.7% in 2008 to reach a value of $311 billion.
In 2013, the market is forecast to have a value of $373 billion, an increase of 19.6% since 2008.
There are an estimated 24 million diary cows in EU27
National Milk Records Plc supplies milk recording and dairy management services to UK dairy farmers, vets and advisers. The Company is acknowledged by the industry as the market leader in the provision and support of dairy software in the UK and supplies aggregate data to more than 35 dairy industry bodies including milk buyers, MDC Evaluations and breed societies.
The Group’s two other wholly owned subsidiaries, National Milk Laboratories (‘NML’) and National Livestock Records (‘NLR’) expand the Company’s reach across various areas of the dairy industry. NML provides milk quality testing to all of the major UK milk buyers and also offers a wide range of disease testing services using milk samples.