Three Uruguayans created a system to control calving in real time from a computer, patented it and now began to offer the service to livestock producers in the country. The Taurus controls the behavior of the bull and the Venus controls the behavior of the cow.
The MU-System is oriented to optimize calving to improve calf production and profitability of cattle breeding in the country, which for years has been suffering from low pregnancy rates. The architects of the new technology are the electronic engineers Julián Oreggioni and Pablo Castro, and the renowned veterinarian Emilio Machado, who is part of the group of technicians who contribute their work to the Workshop for the Evaluation of Vaccine Gestation Diagnostics at INIA Treinta y Tres.
"We always had the idea of linking technology with the field and we found in Emilio the mirror partner, who tries to link the field with technology. As a company we want that: information technology, electronics, telecommunications linked to the field," Oreggioni told El Observador Agropecuario.
"We always had the idea of linking technology with the field and the field with technology."
In Ingenio, the business incubator of the Uruguayan Technological Laboratory (LATU), Agromote was born, the company that created the MU-System, which provides information on the entore. Uruguay has a series of important relative advantages as a development platform, its agricultural market is interesting", explained Oreggioni, and added that the MU-System "was born with an exporting vocation: we want to sell the technology we develop to the world".
The MU-System is a system oriented "to improve the open-air herding", in the natural method of reproduction. "In the Uruguayan market, 90% of the total in-field breeding is done and the remaining 10% is artificial insemination, which is the other technology used for reproduction," Oreggioni recalled. "We have seen that in the process of herding there is a moderate efficiency. There is an idle capacity in the system, there is an opportunity for improvement that we detected," said the technician, adding that "when we got into the subject we saw that there are other problems in the thinning, such as the fact that it is long and there are producers so concerned about improving their procreation rate as to shorten it, making it more efficient in time".
"If the cow gets pregnant earlier, we will achieve that the calf is born earlier and will have more kilos at the time of sale. In addition, by bringing the herd evenly we solve logistical problems," he said.
With real-time information about the progress of the herd, priorities can now be set.
Another virtue that the creators see in the MU-System is that it allows "complete genetic traceability", because "by being able to monitor the calving, we can know which bull mounted which cow and have information about the father. Likewise, having information from the inside, of what is happening in the herd, we will also be able to prevent and identify certain diseases," Oreggioni explained.
Machado said that "having the information in real time about the progress of the herd, we can set priorities, take action with the lots of cows that are not cycling, which will allow us to know what percentage of heat there is, which cows were the ones that cycled and recharge the dyes on what is off".
At the same time, "with that information, aim for the shortest and most concentrated entores. And eliminate everything that is a calving tail," he said.
How the MU System works
The MU-System works by placing an electronic device called Tauro on the bull's back, which detects in real time the animal's behavior during calving. Additionally, another device, called Venus, can be placed on the cow's back, which allows Taurus to identify the female.
Agromote offers the service by renting the devices, processes the information and makes it available to the producer 24 hours a day through the web platform www.sistema-mu.com by means of a user and password. Julián Oreggioni mentioned two clients: the Bayucuá ranch, with Tauro; and La Milagrosa, from Laca, with Tauro and Venus.
Source: The Observer
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