Dairy Production Analytics - An Intelligent Digital Transformation Service for Livestock

Already in 2015, the need for a digital transformation of agribusiness in Russia became obvious to us. Against the background of sanctions and counter-sanctions introduced in 2014, mainly related to food, the Russian agribusiness needed not only government incentives, but also information and technological support, appropriate technologies were needed that would allow to realize a technological breakthrough in the agricultural sector as soon as possible . In 2016, we decided to focus our efforts on developing a cloud-based analytical platform for supporting agricultural decision-making - Smart4Agro. Moreover, in the company's strategy, the emphasis in products was placed not only on data collection and analytics, but also on predictive and prescriptive analytics. The task was to make forecasts in the agricultural sector with a prediction accuracy of 92-97%. As a result, we received a service that combines data from internal systems and external sources, statistical data, economic indicators, data on the work of personnel, laboratory data. The task of the service is to prepare a digital model and, using artificial intelligence (machine learning and neural networks), conduct experiments on this model.

We focused on finding the most ready-made segments for agribusiness to create Digital Twins. The foundation was laid in a pilot project at Yaroslavl Broiler JSC, then we did a data audit, analysis and forecast for the closed ground enterprise, a large greenhouse complex of Agro-Invest LLC in the Kaluga Region. And in 2018, we entered into a partnership agreement with the Russian company Mustang Feeding Technologies, one of the activities of which is the supply of animal feed and premixes to dairy enterprises.

To make timely and objective management decisions, Mustang Feeding Technology customers needed a digital twin for dairy products. It was developed by our company as part of the Smart4Agro platform, the Dairy Production Analytics (DPA) management service for dairy products. In 2018, this service was introduced in the Voshkazhnikovo agricultural complex in the Yaroslavl region. The results showed that Big Data and IoT technologies provide the necessary information to increase production volumes, reduce production costs and improve production management systems. First of all, we prepared, processed and combined production (DairyComp 305), business data (ERP-system) and climate data (IoT equipment) in one place.

To increase the accuracy of forecasting, we used additional external sources: weather stations and sensors in the yards. Thus, the relationship between the air temperature, the composition of the diet and milk, as well as the activities of the staff was revealed. Accurate information from the milking parlor with data on the electrical conductivity of milk allows us to predict and reduce the number of mastitis diseases, which means to reduce milk loss, veterinary costs, reduce culling, indicators regarding reproduction can be determined: accurate determination of hunting and timely insemination. As a result, the client has the opportunity not only to monitor the influence of internal and external factors on the livelihoods of the herd, but also to predict its development.

DPA service allows you to reduce costs associated with maintaining the health of cows, labor costs and reproduction, to solve the strategic tasks of the business: to expand production, opening new units. DPA is a digital twin of dairy production with the ability to predict herd reproduction, milk production and animal diseases not for 7 months, as is happening now for the gestation period of cows, but for 1-2 years or more, based on a combination of external and internal factors.

It should be noted that the introduction of DPA service will not bring maximum effect for business without a quick response to identified deviations and recommendations received. Our service involves the transformation of business processes and actions of employees. Do not neglect the "human factor." Only by changing the thinking of all staff can we achieve impressive results. Using the example of Voshchazhnikovo, we see how the client is being transformed and how business indicators are increasing. At the annual forum of Danon suppliers, Voshkazhnikovo agricultural holdings won the nomination for the best innovation in the Efficiency direction thanks to the implemented ALAN-IT service - Smart4Agro: DPA.

Since 2018, DPA service has been introduced in more than a dozen farms in Russia. DPA is easily scalable and our plans include a strategic partnership outside of Russia.