The technology that could be key in helping dairy farmers and the environment at the same time. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
When dairy farmers need to measure its cow’s Milk Urea Nitrogen – or MUN – samples are sent to labs for analysis. But new technology coming soon could change everything, giving dairy farmers real time data from the convenience of a mobile app.
MUN is a nitrogen-containing compound. When it leaves the body in urine, it eventually ends up as ammonia, and Ammonia can impact air quality, add fertilizer to surface waters, and pollute ground water.
Nitrogen is the major building block of proteins, which are required by dairy cows in relatively large amounts to support healthy lactation. Protein is one of the costliest components in the diet of a high-performance dairy animal, and MUN gives an estimate of how effectively that protein is being used. High MUN may indicate that an animal is receiving more protein than it can use.
The app will give dairy farmers rapid information so they may adjust the rations they feed their herds.
Listen to Cathy Isom’s This Land of Ours program here.