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A new state-of-the-art robotic feed system went online July 15^th, 2020, on the Dalhousie Agricultural campus, nearly five years to the day after a fire destroyed the original structure as part of the Ruminant Animal Centre. (RAC)

“The Agricultural Campus has dealt with two very devastating fires over the past five years and to see our new Feed Centre brought online has been a real boost for faculty and staff,” said Dean and Campus Principal Dr. David Gray.  “The state-of-the-art technology will be integrated into our teaching and research and will be a powerful tool for our students.”

The RAC is home to a 40 cow milking herd and is an integral part of the fully operational campus farm where students and researchers alike have a wide range of hands-on opportunities for learning and study in various disciplines including animal care and husbandry, growth and production, nutrition, genetics, reproduction, animal behaviour and animal welfare.

“When looking at replacing our feed system we wanted something that represented new feeding technology,” explained Farm Manager Jean Lynds.  “Something that was both flexible and accurate to facilitate teaching and research and efficient and user-friendly from a production perspective.”

A TMR or total mixed ration provides a balanced diet that ensures every bite meets the nutritional requirements of the cow based on stage of growth and production. Rations (diets) are formulated specifically for each group of animals - lactating cows, dry cows and heifers based on their nutritional needs. A total mixed ration is a mixture of forages, corn silage and a concentrate consisting of grains, proteins, vitamins and minerals. 

The new robotic feed system features grain tanks, Valmetal comboxes™ conveyors, a Valmetal VRotor 6100™ TMR rotary mixer and mobile feed carts all driven by Autoration Pro™ technology. As part of the start-up, the team is currently in manual mode but will soon switch to automatic mode.

“The new feed system when fully automated will be much more efficient as it should be ‘load and go’ allowing staff to do other tasks while the Autoration™ makes the TMR,” explained Lynds.  “Staff will be required to program the diets and ensure there is an inventory of ingredients available, otherwise the Autoration™ will draw the ingredients, mix and distribute a quality TMR to cows at scheduled times.”

Other renovations to the facility include the addition of teaching and meeting space, an enhanced biosecure entrance to animal areas as well as interpretive area. The interpretive area will feature interactive and interchangeable displays designed to connect and engage the broader community on all aspects of agriculture in Atlantic Canada highlighting our role in addressing global challenges such as food security and climate change.

The next phase of the feed system will be the introduction of the Robocart™ which is an autonomous feed-cart guided by laser triangulation technology.

The Robocart™ will interact with the Autoration™ to deliver the exact TMR quantity to each group of animals on each programmed route. The Robocart™ also comes equipped with a feed pusher that pushes feed into the cows with each pass. The Autoration™ and Robocart™ will enable staff to offer fresh feed more frequently which promotes greater feed intake by the cows

The robotic feed system provides flexibility to not only deliver feed throughout the existing facility but will be compatible for any future expansion of the dairy unit.