Devices can study tilt and whether cows are happy and lying down

Oregon State University researcher Aurora Villarroel is hoping that computer-linked pedometers can make dairy cows more efficient, and help farmers' bottom lines.

About 100 cows at the OSU Dairy Center are wearing ankle bracelets that detect tilt, so scientists can tell whether the bovines are lying down or standing up.

A happy cow generally lies down when it isn't being milked or eating, and that increases blood flow to the udder. And happy cows produce more milk.

"Different things in weather, nutrition, personnel affect cow comfort and health, and therefore milk production," Villarroel said, at an open house at the OSU Dairy Center last week. "The system has been in place since January -. but we're getting there now where we'll be able to do testing."

The pedometers also will be hooked to antennas at milking stations. "They're measured every time they go into the parlor," Villarroel said.

That also will make it easy to tie production, activity and other data strands to a single cow or herds.

A Florida university is the only other educational institution in North America with the new research pedometers.

Using pedometers to make bovines more efficient is nothing new. For 20 years, they've been used for breeding purposes, because activity level increases dramatically when cows are in heat, said Villarroel, an OSU Extension Service Veterinarian and Rural Veterinary Practice clinician.

Monitoring tilt, however, is a new aspect. Villarroel said it might even be used to find certain diseases where cows' lying down time goes down because of discomfort, but activity level doesn't increase.

She estimated the new pedometer system donated by Israel company S.A.E. Afikim cost about $70,000.

Udi Golen, regional marketing manager for the company, said the computerized system also could be used to analyze the cows during milking and the efficiency of dairy operations, such as when cows are brought to the milking parlor.

Golen said his company eventually wants to get farmers - a.k.a., businessmen - using such high-tech devices. "There is hidden money in every dairy farm," Golen said. "The only way to analyze things is by computer."

Jordon Lekkerkerker of Monmouth, a sophomore and OSU Dairy Club member, said many older farmers don't embrace such changes.

Joseph Macedo of Tipton, Calif., an OSU junior, fellow club member and Dairy Center employee, agreed in part, but said more farmers would be open to technology, especially with the recession.

"It helps us be more efficient in what we do and it allows us to see things that might not be visible to the naked eye," he said.

The image of "Old McDonald" still is true to a certain degree, of course. But for the younger generations of farmers, it may be relevant to ask what sound a computer makes here, there and everywhere.

Kyle Odegard covers Oregon State University. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.