Aug 21, 2024

Metrics available in the Connecterra Platform

List of available metrics, sources and calculations

Behavior data

Behavior - the average eating / ruminating / standing / lying / walking time of all cows with a live Ida sensor, per day.

Behavior data per group - Ida defines groups based on the Farm Management System (FMS). For farms without FMS, groups can be set up manually in Ida. The structure of groups is specific to each farm and can include groups by pen/area, lactation stage, expected calving season, etc.

Behavior data per DIM group - behavior of cows grouped by their DIM (days in milk) on that day. DIM groups are determined per farm, based on the Farm Management System.

Behavior data per lactation group – behavior of cows grouped per lactation 0, 1 and 2+

Behavior data per lactation cycle - we determine the lactation cycle as follows:

  • Open - cows that have recently calved and are not inseminated yet
  • Inseminated - cows that have been inseminated but not confirmed pregnant yet
  • Pregnant - cows that have been confirmed pregnant but not dried off yet
  • Dry - cows that have been dried off but have not calved and started lactating yet
  • Unknown - cows for which we do not have enough data to determine their state

Behavior consistency per day - Eating / ruminating / standing / lying / walking time as a % of total time tracked by Ida sensor per hour. This is visualized through an heatmap, the darker the color - the higher the percentage in the corresponding hour.  

The Behavior Consistency heat map shows the patterns in a herd’s behavior. Changes can be quickly spotted, allowing you to investigate the cause and take the appropriate action before bigger problems emerge.

Behavior consistency per day of the week - behavior consistency average per day of the week, over the selected time period.

Note:  Data on groups, DIM groups and lactation cycles is sourced from the Herd Management System and depends on the integration and data availability.

Production data

Milk yield and ECM per cow (herd test) - Average milk yield and energy corrected milk per cow per day, as determined by the periodic herd milk test.

Milk yield and ECM per cow (milking system/shipped milk) - Average milk yield and energy corrected milk per cow per day, as determined daily by the milking system. Availability depends on whether the farmer has milk meters integrated in the FMS and if the shipped milk is integrated in Ida.

Solid components (herd test) - Average protein and fat components ('solids') in the milk. Calculated from the periodic herd milk test by multiplying the percent of fat and protein per cow with the milk yield (in kg) per cow.

Percent fat (herd test) - Average herd milk fat percentage, as determined by the herd milk test.

Percent protein (herd test) - Average herd milk protein percentage, as determined by the herd milk test.

Somatic Cell Count (herd test) - Average herd somatic cell count (in 1000x) per cow, as determined by the herd milk test.

Production KPIs per DIM group – production of cows grouped by their DIM (days in milk) on that day. DIM groups are determined per farm, based on the Farm Management System.

Production KPIs per lactation - production KPIs per lactation number: the lactation number is retrieved from the FMS.

Note:  

  • Production data is sourced from the Herd Management System and depends on the integration and data availability.
  • The frequency of the herd tests changes per farm.
  • These numbers are the average of all the samples available in the DHMS.
  • The calculation that Ida uses for ECM is: 0.327*milk yield (herd test) + 12.95*fat yield (herd test) + 7.65*protein yield (herd test).

Reproduction data

Insemination Rate (IR) (or Heat Detection Rate) - the number of cows in heat and lactation 1+ that were inseminated divided by the total number of Eligible Cows in a 21-day cycle.  

An Eligible Cow is:  

1) in lactation 1 or higher;  

2) not yet pregnant before this cycle;  

3) have passed their voluntary waiting period (‘VWP’) after calving during or before this cycle;  

4) is not marked DNB (do not breed) during this cycle.  

The standard VWP taken into account for 70 days for Lactation 1 and 50 days for Lactation 2 and above. For certain farms we have customized the VWP. Pease contact your Ida representative for more information.

Conception rate (CR) - the number of cows that became pregnant divided by the number of inseminated cows in one 21-day cycle.  

CR will always trend towards 0 for the most recent 2-3 cycles due to time delay between insemination and identifying a successful pregnancy. The timing of the pregnancy checks differs per farm and can cause some variation in the metric; therefore, the metric is considered stable after 5 cycles (105 days).  "

Pregnancy Rate (PR) - the number of cows that got successfully pregnant out of all cows that were inseminated.

Calculation: Pregnancy Rate = Insemination Rate multiplied by Conception Rate (PR = IR x CR).  

PR will always trend towards 0 for the most recent 2-3 cycles due to time delay between insemination and the Pregnancy Check Date. The timing of the pregnancy checks differs per farm and can cause some variation in the metric; therefore, the metric is considered stable after 5 cycles (105 days).

Number of Eligible, Bred and Pregnant Cows - an eligible cow: 1) has calved at least once; 2) was not already pregnant before this cycle; 3) has passed its voluntary waiting period* (VWP) after calving during or before this cycle; 4) is not marked DNB (do not breed).  

A bred cow: has been inseminated.  

A pregnant cow has a positive pregnancy check  

Fertility data per lactation over time – fertility data of cows in lactation 1 vs. lactation 2 and above, changes over time

Fertility data across lactation number – fertility data grouped per lactation number, average over the selected time period

Notes:

  • This is based on the Herd Management System to make it comparable across farms.
  • IR is only supported for farms where Ida receives Lactation number and Inseminations; CR & PR are only supported for farms where Ida receives the Pregnancy Check Date.
  • This only takes into account data after the DHMS integration.
  • *The default VWP used for calculation is 70 days for Lactation 1 cows and 50 days for Lactation 2 and above. Please contact your Ida representative for more information about custom VWP settings.

First heat after calving – Ida tracks the metrics in this section to help you evaluate how cows are recovering in the transition period and make improvements.

Average DIM until first heat - the number of days a cow is in milk before the first heat event. The datapoints will be visible if 80% of all cows have shown a heat.

% of cows that showed a Heat, sorted in DIM-groups - the percentage of cows that have shown a heat, per DIM-group.  

First heat after calving table – metrics around the first heat in a table format:

Average: The average days in milk between calving and first heat, sorted per calving month.  

Median: The median days in milk between calving and first heat, sorted per calving month.  

*The difference between average and median is that an average is the sum of values divided by the number of values, and the median is the central point between the number of values.

Heat shown: Number of cows that were eligible and who have shown a heat.  

Eligible Cows: Number of cows that were and are eligible and did not show a heat (yet).  

Coverage: % of eligible cows that have shown a heat.

DIM until first Heat, sorted in DIM-groups - The number of cows that have shown a heat, per DIM-group. The datapoints will be visible if 50% of all cows have shown a heat.

Notes:

  • The heat alert will be taken into account even if the farmer hasn’t responded to it.
  • The average per month is calculated based on the calving event. So all cows that calved in January and were connected to a functioning sensor between calving and first heat will be calculated towards the January datapoint, even if they show their heat in another month.
  • Cows that do not wear a (functioning) sensor between calving and first heat will not be taken into account.