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Big data on verge of big dairy advancements

A computer programmer says there is a lot of potential for using big data in the dairy industry.

Ben Keating from software developer Milker tells Brownfield the dairy industry already collects a lot of data.  He says, “We’re definitely collecting it, and we’re holding onto it, and I think right now, we’re at the moment in time where we are starting to discuss as an industry what we can do and how we can get that data merged together to do more interesting things.”

Keating says existing technology in milking systems, cow activity monitors, and other on-farm systems will quickly evolve to where artificial intelligence capable of deep learning will evaluate many streams of data and predict problems before they happen.

Keating sees the industry moving towards standardized platforms.  “Ultimately, it benefits the producers and all businesses involved because holding on and retaining that data and not sharing it really doesn’t do any good to any of the products or companies involved.”

Keating believes the technology he is working on will be as easy to use as a smartphone app, while allowing machines to monitor every aspect of the herd and the business.