Technology indispensable in the drive to efficiency in Kuwait’s largest dairy farm

Kuwait United Dairy Company (KUDC), Kuwait’s largest dairy farm, is located in the Sulaybiya region, a stone’s throw from Kuwait City. With no fewer than 2800 cows including young stock, efficiency is of great importance in all business units. “I did not expect that the use of technology would make such a big difference,” admits Farm Manager Rakan Khreisat.

“We strive to become more efficient in everything we do. Both with the cows, in the management and in the milking process”, says Yasim, the deputy General Manager of KUDC. “Technology plays a major role in this.” He speaks with pride about his company that has been around since 1961 and connects all livestock farms in Sulaybiya. They jointly own the central dairy factory where the milk is processed.

Spectacular improvement

One of the first things Farm Manager Rakan Khreisat implemented when he joined KUDC was Nedap CowControl. In his view, the introduction of this technology was necessary to significantly increase business efficiency and reduce the number of mistakes. “The staff was not trained in artificial insemination. That made it difficult to perform a good heat detection and achieve a high pregnancy score”, explains the Farm Manager. He shows on his smartphone how easily the system alerts employees to cows in heat. “This technology has helped us tremendously to fasten the insemination process and increase reproduction results.” This efficiency gain translates into resounding results. Rakan says with pride: “When I started here three years ago, the average daily production was 18 liters of milk per cow. We currently produce an average of 28 liters per cow per day and we aim to reach 30 liters in the near future. I honestly did not expect such a spectacular improvement.”

Insight into the effect of ration changes

Nedap CowControl also offers clear insight into feed management. Rakan explains how the technology helps them with this. “For example, if we change the feeding ration today, I can see in the monitoring how rumination behavior changes. Then we can immediately assess whether the ration change has a positive effect. If the rumination time decreases, this is a sign that of the feed is lost in the stool. I can then act on that immediately, which saves us money and benefits the results.”

Constant behavioral monitoring

Before KUDC applied this practical technology in the barn, milk production was a measure of the health of the cows. If production dropped, something was wrong with the cow. As a result, the company was always one step behind. The constant monitoring of the eating, ruminating and inactive behavior of each individual cow in combination with the automatic attention system allows staff to intervene at an early stage in case of possible health problems. “This puts us ahead of the problems, which has reduced the culling rate,” Rakan shows. “I chose Nedap based on my experience. It is a perfect choice for our company and I recommend it to everyone.”

Technology in the stable

General Manager Yasin is also convinced of the added value of this technology in the barn. “Nedap CowControl has helped us a lot in increasing efficiency. It supports us in our growth ambitions. We certainly plan to expand the Nedap system in the future.”