@article {3672,
	title = {BRIEF COMMUNICATION: An evaluation of the AGTECH360 Livestock Tracker for the automated recording of on-farm grazing events.},
	journal = {New Zealand Journal of Animal Science and Production},
	volume = {83},
	year = {2023},
	month = {01/2023},
	pages = {1-4},
	address = {Rotorua},
	abstract = {Many New Zealand farmers either do not record paddock grazing events or do not retain grazing data after making
decisions about cow feeding and pasture management. This study, conducted at the Northland Agriculture Research
Farm (NARF), aimed to determine whether GPS-enabled devices suitable for use on cattle could be used to automate
the recording of grazing events on-farm. Accordingly, 12-13 cows within each of the three herds (herd size range 59-
85 cows) were fitted with an AGTECH360 Livestock Tracker from 1 December 2021 to 31 March 2022. The GPS
location data were then compared with manual grazing records. The grazed paddock was correctly identified on 80-
92\% of occasions, depending on the herd. These results indicate that it is feasible to automate the recording of onfarm grazing events by fitting a proportion of the herd with GPS-enabled devices.

Keywords: dairy farm systems; grazing records; global positioning systems (GPS); Internet of Things (IoT); low-power
wide-area network (LPWAN); LoRa},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {WA Hofmann and JP Edwards and MB Neal}
}
@article {3672,
	title = {BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Considerations to cost-effectively automate batch milking in pastoral dairy systems without distributing milkings over 24 h.},
	journal = {New Zealand Journal of Animal Science and Production},
	volume = {83},
	year = {2023},
	month = {01/2023},
	pages = {11-13},
	address = {Rotorua},
	abstract = {Current technological limitations mean that to cost-effectively automate batch milking, without distributing milkings
over 24 h, a rethink of the farm and milking system is required. A model and a range of non-optimised scenarios were
developed for a 300-cow herd to illustrate the trade-offs between the number of automated milking points required
(cost) and the duration of {\textquoteleft}on-call{\textquoteright} time for the person overseeing milking. Compared to the base scenario of 30 milking
points (equivalent to conventional milking), by milking the herd in three groups of 100 and adjusting the twice-a-day
milking interval from 9-15 h to 6-18 h, the number required could be reduced to 12, with a similar {\textquoteleft}on-call{\textquoteright} time.
Further adjustments could reduce the number of milking points to 7 by milking once-a-day, although five groups of 60
cows would be required to keep cow waiting time below 2 h. These results demonstrate the potential flexibility of
current automated milking technology for batch milking.

Keywords: dairy farm systems; automated milking; batch-milking},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {JP Edwards and BT Dela Rue and JG Jago}
}
