Modernizing dairy management with feed automation

Mitch Breunig remembers the responsibility of manually tallying daily feed rations for 500 cows. 

For years, the fourth-generation owner of Mystic Valley Dairy in Sauk City, Wisconsin, pursued perfection when measuring each ingredient — up to 11 of them — with every mix. He documented the daily scale data and then entered it into the farm’s online feed database.

“I took pride in being the best feeder on the farm,” Breunig said.

But when the third-generation dairy upgraded its feed management software in 2024, Breunig discovered that his diligence didn’t always translate to accuracy. And in some cases, miscalculations led to costly overfeeding.

A feature of Topcon’s TAP FEED Pro platform tracked ingredient load deviation and revealed an excess of whey in feed mixes. While whey isn’t a high-dollar, high-nutrition ingredient, when Breunig reviewed deviation data on pricier feed ingredients — as much as $700 per ton — he found that some cows were being overfed by 30 pounds in every mix.

“We were stepping over dollars to pick up dimes,” he said. “When I looked at the overall numbers, we were making nearly $20,000 a year in overfeeding mistakes.”

Rather than continue striving for manual perfection, Breunig retired the clipboard. Now he sets specific tolerance ranges for each ingredient in TAP FEED. By staying within a preset weight range, the dairy is increasing the accuracy and nutritional value of each feed load.

“We’ve already cut the cost of our mistakes in half, and there’s more we can do to minimize error within the software,” Breunig said. “I joke with employees that it’s a lot harder to be the best feeder now.”

 The farm has progressively integrated advanced dairy technology, including smart collars that measure herd health, RFID scanners and robotic feed pushers.

Keeping current with feed management technology is another way Mystic Valley Dairy, and other farms in the Midwest, improve efficiency and accuracy, while minimizing risk and error.  

Grinstead manages feed inventory at both sites, but commuting between the two dairies isn’t practical. Having a cloud-based platform gives him feed data from both operations at his fingertips.

“From our primary location, it’s a short drive to our feed center. But it’s a couple of hours each way to the Illinois location,” he said. “The ability to remotely monitor our feed manufacturing is essential as we train new employees on efficiency and accuracy.”

The reports generated by TAP FEED allow for meaningful training conversations with feeders about load schedules and accuracy at both operations on a weekly basis.

The majority of the farm’s batches are fed across the entire operation. So not only do feeders need to have the right recipe, but it also needs to be the right amount going to the right groups.

Tracking recipes and managing formulas, inventory and quality parameters such as dry matter keeps the recipes as accurate as possible, said Grinstead.

“In a production cycle, 60% of our production costs come from feed and extra feed storage comes at an expense. It’s a balance of not having excess and breaking the bank,” Grinstead said. “If we’re supplying cows with more nutrients than they need, we’re wasting money. Likewise, if we’re undersupplying nutrients, that leads to lower quality milk production.”

Hoard’s upgraded from the TMR Tracker to the TMR Flex Pro system, which includes TAP FEED Pro and the Digi-Star FD1 tablet. One of the biggest benefits has been the simplicity of data sharing between equipment and with dairy stakeholders.

The streamlined ability to access and share feed data solved a significant logistical challenge for Hoard’s. Yurs recalls the occasional scavenger hunt for USB sticks of farm data that went missing in transit from the tractor to the office.

“A good share of assets are tied up in cows and feed,” said Yurs. “We needed to be able to monitor real-time feed inventory, order ingredients and track crop yields. Then identify deviations.”

Now, if nutritionists request weekly reports of milking pen intakes, a preset report can be created, scheduled and sent automatically. The report can contain feed intake, feed usage, operator accuracy, and feed efficiency. 

“Our crop consultant is kind of old school as far as technology, but when we meet to review our final crop rotation plan for the upcoming year, we run a historical report on dry matter tons of alfalfa we fed,” Yurs said. “We can also look at ingredients we use in our heifer diets to determine if we need to double crop anything for extra tonnage of dry matter.”

Yurs also has the capability to make daily adjustments to feed projections, which is especially valuable when he needs to communicate changes to feeders.

“Some of our youngest stock is at a farm three miles away, and there are situations where we may move large numbers of heifers around before feeding,” he said. “If we make a ration change, we can text feeders at that location, letting them know we moved 30 heifers from pen 28 to pen 29 before they load the batch. The adjustments are made in advance, and we don’t risk underfeeding those cows.”

While Yurs could adjust ingredient dry matter, pen counts and batch sizes with their old feed management system, they couldn’t all be done on one screen. Now they can, which makes training and transferring data more efficient.

Hoard’s has two tractors equipped with Patz feed mixers that are loaded by CAT wheel loader. They also use a smaller Patz 500 mixer that mixes all feed for young stock and another twin screw mixer for milk cows.

“We used to have different systems on the mixers, so we always had to train people on multiple systems,” Yurs said. “Now every tractor and mixer are set up the same. It’s seamless and the most user-friendly system we’ve had in place.”

“If I’m going to plant corn for three weeks, the last thing on my mind is going out to record feed inventory,” he said. “Plus, we were always making decisions based on old data. Now, we have real-time tracking that is automatically updated. We’re a lot more accurate and efficient.”

Breunig also gets an advance alert when ingredient inventory on one of their five orderable products is running low. He can simply send an email to a supplier and re-order a specific product.

“We’re able to minimize our math calculations and reduce cost with the system,” he said. “If you’re using outdated feed software, you don’t have a clue how much money your operation is losing.”

1. Enhanced Data Analytics and Reporting. In-depth feed reports can provide comprehensive data analytics to help optimize feed efficiency. Managers can customize digital dashboards to view feeding trends, costs, and performance metrics.

2. Advanced Feed Management and Precision. Modern dairy feed software offers more precise tracking of feed ingredients, adjustments, and rations. And real-time adjustments allow managers to modify feeding programs instantly based on herd performance and nutritional needs.

3. Cloud-Based Access and Remote Management. Enhanced feed management systems can offer remote access via cloud-based technology rather than locally based platforms that are tied to a single device.

4. Inventory and Cost Control. Dairies can get real-time ingredient tracking that provides actionable insights into ingredient usage and inventory levels. This allows managers to manage and forecast costs more precisely.

Watch videos on TAP FEED on the Topcon Agriculture YouTube channel.