Application of digital transformation tools in dairy cattle farming and their role in improving population health and animal productivity

The aim of the study is to explore the ways of implementing digital technologies and modern technical solutions to ensure the population health of animals in the context of contemporary dairy farming. The paper discusses modern digital technical tools and automated processes in dairy farming facilitated by these tools. In the course of the study, the main tasks for successful digital transformation and ensuring the population health of animals in dairy farming were identified: searching for biomarkers of pathological and physiological states of animals, developing methods for determining found biomarkers, developing technical solutions for parameter registration and their implementation into production. At the moment, automatic systems for diagnosing the state of the animal’s body have been implemented using sound sensors, devices for determining the activity of the animal and the position of the body in space. Sensors for determining the electrical conductivity of milk make it possible to determine mastitis at the initial stage of the pathological process. Sensors for determining the concentration of hormones in milk make it possible to determine the period of the sexual cycle. ICS cameras allow you to determine areas of inflammation on the animal’s body. A modern 3-D camera system, combined with software, allows automatic measurement of animal body parameters on a daily basis. Thus, the implemented automated systems make it possible to reduce the time of human contact with an animal, which has a positive effect on the health of the animal. On the other hand, constant monitoring of important indicators of animal health allows timely detection of the onset of the disease. All of the above helps ensure population health on dairy farms.