Glenda Pereira: 00:17

Welcome to the Maine Farmcast. This is your host, Dr. Glenda Pereira, an assistant professor of University of Maine and a dairy specialist for University of Maine Cooperative Extension. For today’s episode, I got to record this with a dairy farmer while I was on vacation in The Azores, where some of you know is where I’m actually from. I was able to catch up with Helder Ponte, who is a dairy farmer that also works with farmers in the Azores and all of the islands of the Azores, specifically with technology and equipment.

Glenda Pereira: 00:51

And I wanted to record this episode because I’ve been waiting to do a technology episode for quite some time, but I had not found the opportunity, and this was it. In this episode, we’re gonna talk about how dairy farmers in Azores, and specifically the island of Sao Miguel, are using wearable technology for management. And I wanted to give you some context ahead of the episode. During my master’s and PhD, I did a lot of work on precision dairy technologies and specifically wearables, and I wanted to highlight some of the benefits of these. So wearables, can be beneficial because they’re objective, meaning that they remove the bias from whatever behavior they’re recording.

Glenda Pereira: 01:33

They record the individual cows behavior, and they’re really consistent at doing that. So from person to person, we know that we might have a different body condition score for each cow depending on our perspective, but the technology take bias out of, recording a behavior. For a lot of farms, technologies actually improve reproductive performance because as we talk about in the episode, there’s somebody monitoring data for twenty four hours per day. So if you have low estrus detection rate, that’s because you might not have somebody visually observing the cows for all hours of the day. And that means that during those periods where we’re not observing cows, they might have a heat in an Escher cycle that we’re not observing.

Glenda Pereira: 02:20

Wearables and precision technologies can also help us reduce treatment and severity of treatment, because we’re able to actually detect behaviors earlier than visual detection. So usually, we see a drop in milk production, but with technology, we health alert, because there’s a change in behavior even before the onset of a drop in milk production. And then lastly, technologies reallocate labor. So they’re not replacing you on the farm, they’re reallocating the labor that you have. They’re really another tool to help you manage your animals more effectively.

Glenda Pereira: 03:00

The technology is telling you here are the cows that you really need to focus on based on the data. So with that, I hope you enjoy this episode as I talk with Helder Ponte, a dairy farmer from the Azores. We are on Helder’s farm, and this is a family farm. So Helder’s, dad is here with us and his brother, as well as part of the the family farm. We are located in Capelles, and the farm is called Irmange Italian, which translates to Italian brothers.

Glenda Pereira: 03:33

Thank you, Helder, for having us here on your farm today. Let us know a little bit more about your farm.

Helder Ponte: 03:41

Okay. Hello, everyone. So I’m Portuguese, of course, and I’m sorry about my bad English. But I know Glenda about twenty years? Twenty years maybe?

Helder Ponte: 03:52

Mostly by the competitions?

Glenda Pereira: 03:55

Yes, yes, the cow shows.

Helder Ponte: 03:57

Cow shows? Yes. So about myself, I’m a son of a family of farmers. My father is a farmer for fifty years maybe, and I grew up in the middle of the cows. The farm is from my father and my two uncles.

Helder Ponte: 04:15

I’m the one that stays more connected with the farm, And I get the taste taste boost. Yeah. The taste. The taste from for for the cows and still connected for the cow shows. I still connected for at the farm.

Helder Ponte: 04:32

Yes. For the farm. And but on the family, we have a commercial business also. And the last years, I’m most more dedicated to the to the commercial store. And with the commercial store, we start to developing the technology product that we are we are already used on the farm.

Helder Ponte: 04:54

We love this the the the technology and start developing in the in the archipelago of the Azores to the other islands. We think that we have great products, we have great data, we have great Assistance.

Glenda Pereira: 05:12

Yes. Because you you provide a lot of assistance to farmers.

Helder Ponte: 05:16

Yes. And my brother is almost an expert in the programming.

Glenda Pereira: 05:21

Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 05:21

And he he I have more information to help my customers on the

Glenda Pereira: 05:29

practical Yes. Practical management.

Helder Ponte: 05:31

Yeah. Management with the technology. Yeah. And when we start talking about the technology so we we say we feel that the people the customers that are using the technology are really happy and can’t be like we were talking about the a few time ago. They can’t be with no Internet for a few hours because they

Glenda Pereira: 05:54

They call you.

Helder Ponte: 05:55

They call me because I don’t know if I if I need to inseminate Yeah. The cow because I don’t know if the is this the the right time or not. So the the the the farmers use the technology, and they get to attach

Glenda Pereira: 06:10

Yeah. The the technology. And we’re talking specifically about, so, for those that are listening, the wearable technology. So Helder was mentioning he, currently sells and supports the farmers who adopt technology. Currently, it’s SCR Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 06:25

That you’re predominantly working with. So it’s a wearable technology that records rumination and activity. Yes. But continue. I cut you off.

Glenda Pereira: 06:33

So your customers are really happy. Insemination.

Helder Ponte: 06:35

Yes. And also the the the issues issues, problems on on health. When they receive a notification about that cow with some problem in health. So they watch the cow, the cow is okay. But if the program says something, I take the thermometer.

Glenda Pereira: 06:55

Right, temperature.

Helder Ponte: 06:56

And say temperature. Oh, there’s some temperature, not fever, but some temperature.

Glenda Pereira: 07:01

It’s higher.

Helder Ponte: 07:02

Instead of using antibiotics, use anti inflammatory. And the cow, it’s okay the next day. Without the technology, the customer says that only the next day I see the cow.

Glenda Pereira: 07:15

Right, you see the response, a delayed response. Yes, yes.

Helder Ponte: 07:19

Visually, only the next day. Yeah. With the with the technology, they can see the problem Yep. Before the cow shows. Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 07:27

For example, one situation, the cow the the the customer receive a notification. The cow is not okay, and they watch watch the cow. The cow is it’s it’s doing great. When milking, the cow was with diarrhea. Oh.

Helder Ponte: 07:41

Oh. Right. Right. If if I don’t if I was not looking at the cow because I know that is a notification, it was one cow. Right.

Helder Ponte: 07:49

It was one cow. And no. They get the cow, treat the cow, next day the cow is okay. Yeah. So we don’t we use less antibiotics.

Helder Ponte: 07:58

We lost lost less milk, is what I was trying to say. There is less worries because the cow is already okay. There was another situation, a cow that was fresh and there were notification. We see the cow, the cow is eating, the cow is ruminating, some but the the customer calls the vet because it was a cow from the show. And he calls the vet because he sees there is something probably something wrong.

Helder Ponte: 08:31

The cow was smoothed out. And we said it was starting.

Glenda Pereira: 08:34

Yep. So she she was starting to have a displaced abomasum.

Helder Ponte: 08:38

Exactly. They did the the surgery. The next day, the cow produced 50 liters. Liters. Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 08:44

The cow that was in the surgery. Yeah. So it the cow went to the show. I don’t know if she did if she got something.

Glenda Pereira: 08:52

She plays.

Helder Ponte: 08:53

But the cow the cow went okay. Even if that she was in surgery. The next day the cow was okay because the cow didn’t start to get with the disease. Yes. Illness.

Helder Ponte: 09:05

Yeah. So It works before

Glenda Pereira: 09:08

Early diagnosis.

Helder Ponte: 09:09

Yes. Early

Glenda Pereira: 09:09

diagnosis. Before it’s severe treatments. Yes. If you’ve ever heard me talk about technologies, I always say that there’s usually like four to five benefits. The first one being early diagnosis and prevention and treatment.

Helder Ponte: 09:22

Prevention.

Glenda Pereira: 09:22

Yeah. It tells us before we actually see a response in milk or response in reduced eating time, and then we’re able to treat right then and there before it becomes more acute. And then we have to, like you say, potentially use antibiotics or even do, like, something more aggressive. It adds that value in the early diagnosis. It helps with prevention because we can reduce our treatments, which then reduces our costs

Helder Ponte: 09:44

because less and less milk. Because you you said it. Right? So if we know that a

Glenda Pereira: 09:48

cow has reduced milk because she has diarrhea or she has mastitis or whatever it is that she’s gonna be pulled aside from, right, to be treated, if we do it earlier, her response to get back back into milk is gonna be even earlier.

Helder Ponte: 10:02

Yes. Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 10:02

And then insemination, so better fertility and performance.

Helder Ponte: 10:06

I I didn’t talk anything about insemination because the the the health problems, it’s when the customer the the produce the farmer sees that he’s not wasting money.

Glenda Pereira: 10:17

Yeah. It’s very valuable.

Helder Ponte: 10:18

Yeah.

Glenda Pereira: 10:18

Yeah. It pays for itself.

Helder Ponte: 10:20

For the fertility, the farmer doesn’t see in the right time, in this time, doesn’t see that he’s not he is not As beneficial. Yeah. But the customers, they they say the the the farmers, they they they say that they can disseminate with more accuracy and more confidence. Yes. More confidence.

Helder Ponte: 10:43

And starting inseminating cows that no one sees the the heat. Yes. My father told you that

Glenda Pereira: 10:49

Yeah. A story today. Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 10:51

Ten minutes ago.

Glenda Pereira: 10:51

Nobody saw the heat. No one saw it.

Helder Ponte: 10:53

No one saw it. In the beginning, when we started installing installing the technology. My father is 66 years old. So it’s he told me, oh, there is a I’m not in here. I

Glenda Pereira: 11:09

know she’s not.

Helder Ponte: 11:10

And I told him, that’s why we put technology. Extremities the cow. And right in the first two years, there was one cow. The cow getting pregnant.

Glenda Pereira: 11:20

Yep.

Helder Ponte: 11:20

Two times. Two years difference. And during the two times, no one saw in one one heat. Heat. The it was inseminated with the technology, the cow.

Glenda Pereira: 11:31

Had a very short calving interval.

Helder Ponte: 11:32

Came yep. And she gave birth seven times. If there was not technology, it was only four times. Cults. Earlier.

Helder Ponte: 11:42

Yeah. Earlier. So we can with the technology, we can

Glenda Pereira: 11:46

Improve fertility.

Helder Ponte: 11:47

Improve fertility, the cows remain in the farm more time. So it’s a big benefit. Not not only the cows get pregnant and the cows get treated. No. There is a lot of benefits.

Glenda Pereira: 12:02

Yep. And then I always tell so, like, mentioning there’s that list, reallocation of labor or displacement of labor. Of course. Of course. So you were saying that the farmers, they call you once something the Internet goes down Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 12:14

Because they’re they’re now you know, hey. I come in. I go and check the cows that are on their alert list. I don’t have to, you know, like, see every single cow at the feed bunk. I can see her.

Glenda Pereira: 12:24

Especially here, a lot of farmers have cows that are in in, like, grazing far away from

Helder Ponte: 12:30

Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 12:30

From their daily visual Here

Helder Ponte: 12:33

in our our reality, most farmers most farmers have the cows grazing. Yeah. And they need to spend some time when the cows go for the grazing, being there for fifteen, twenty minutes watching the cows Right. Trying to catch and and heat. And this way, they don’t need to do to do do that.

Helder Ponte: 12:53

So that’s when you say relocate It’s enough labor. Yeah. And in the evening in the morning, they need to do that. And in the evening, they need they need to do that again. With the technology, they almost don’t don’t need to

Glenda Pereira: 13:06

do that.

Helder Ponte: 13:07

And was one farmer, I told you before, there was one farmer that told me, I can’t tell my employee that I have this this this technology and what the technology does because my employee will stop watching the cows. Yeah. And I want them to keep watching the cows.

Glenda Pereira: 13:26

To continue being good cow managers.

Helder Ponte: 13:28

Yes, We

Glenda Pereira: 13:29

need to know everything about the

Helder Ponte: 13:30

cows Yes, see the cows. Because that technology, I used to say, it’s one more eye on the farm. Yes. That helps you, it doesn’t get your

Glenda Pereira: 13:40

It doesn’t reduce.

Helder Ponte: 13:41

Yes. It doesn’t reduce. It’s one more eye that helps you you to decide if you inseminate the cow, if you treat the cow, doesn’t inseminate it, doesn’t get your cows pregnant, and also doesn’t treat the other cow. Right. You have to do it, you have to analyze your notifications.

Helder Ponte: 14:04

It’s one more eye.

Glenda Pereira: 14:06

Yeah. I like that. I like that. No. Absolutely.

Glenda Pereira: 14:09

I always tell people that reallocation of labor is really where a lot of people benefit, and you still need to be on the farm making decisions.

Helder Ponte: 14:16

Yes. Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 14:16

And then the other thing that we talked about a little bit was cow comfort understanding better how the cows are happier with the routines that they have. Rumination and activity can tell us that too. I know that you haven’t explored that as much, but, like, cows have time budgets, what they should be doing every day for twenty four hours, and this can also help us monitor that. You said a lot of farmers use this for a monitoring tool. Now the coolest thing that I think you told me about was that you have an application on your phone

Helder Ponte: 14:45

Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 14:46

That’s kind of like, you know, the dairy management software with your technology software. So everything is on one app. You don’t have to look at two different apps. You have all the data there. Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 14:57

Do you want to talk about that? And because it’s just so cool.

Helder Ponte: 15:00

Yes. It’s cool. It’s we get what we were talking about two minutes ago about my my brother. He’s he’s the one that gets the the the the the information together. We we have the the app Bovinet, that is the herd manager.

Helder Ponte: 15:18

We manage the medications. Everything. Everything. The feeding, reproduction, the effect of the animals, And also, it sends the information to the SCR platform, let’s say that like that. Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 15:36

And receive the information from the SCR, the Sense Hub. And I only work with Bovinet. I don’t the the SCR is working on the background. Yeah. And only uses my my technology.

Helder Ponte: 15:49

Even the the main pane panel of the the Bovinet application, it’s the same image or from

Glenda Pereira: 15:56

SCR.

Helder Ponte: 15:57

Not the same image.

Glenda Pereira: 15:57

It’s similar.

Helder Ponte: 15:58

It’s similar, but has the same information that sends up. So it’s easier, much easier to work like that. You were told told me you were telling me

Glenda Pereira: 16:09

Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 16:09

We don’t have that. That you have multiple computers. I want I have it on my phone. Yep. And everything’s I showed you graphics on from one colleague and easy easy easy.

Helder Ponte: 16:22

So we need technology. We can’t be without technology. It’s almost like the Facebook of the farm.

Glenda Pereira: 16:30

Yes. The last thing I want to ask you is: where do you see the Azorean dairy industry in the next ten years?

Helder Ponte: 16:39

I see the industry almost like see on With lots of technology because we have a problem of labor. Yes. Lots of technology. The the the the the milking partners, that technology, it’s it’s it’s replacing the the the labor because we don’t have it.

Glenda Pereira: 17:01

Yep. Your neighbor has three robots.

Helder Ponte: 17:04

Yes. Yes. The the only robots on the on the and even the other islands. The archipelago?

Glenda Pereira: 17:09

Yes. Oh my god. Only Yeah. Only him.

Helder Ponte: 17:12

Only him. It’s an expensive Investment. He bought used ones, and he says that it’s no going back. Something

Glenda Pereira: 17:19

But the shortage of labor, those robots pay for themselves over time because you have Because they have you’ll be having

Helder Ponte: 17:25

It’s a farm from about 150 cows, and it’s it’s him, his brother, and his old old father with 70 or 70 more They have time to replace the labor. They have time to do other things. And, of course, they have the the technology, and it’s a relocating labor. Yeah. Here in our farm, we are pretending to invest

Glenda Pereira: 17:49

in Like a calf feeder for

Helder Ponte: 17:51

the calves? Health feeders. Yes. Yes. With 50 female drinking milk It’s lot

Glenda Pereira: 18:00

of work.

Helder Ponte: 18:00

That’s a lot of work. So it’s one investment that we are about to do because we don’t have the labor. So it’s relocating labor with technology.

Glenda Pereira: 18:11

Yes. And then what’s your favorite Azarian an dairy product? Cheese. Cheese. Okay.

Helder Ponte: 18:20

I love cheese. What do

Glenda Pereira: 18:21

you like cheese from Sao Miguel Island or do you like the cheese from Sao Jorge?

Helder Ponte: 18:24

I like it, but I prefer the the the soft cheese. And every every food that that takes cheese, I like it.

Glenda Pereira: 18:31

Yes. Pizza.

Helder Ponte: 18:32

The pizza, I like extra

Glenda Pereira: 18:34

cheese. Sandwiches. Yes.

Helder Ponte: 18:35

Yes. Everything. The white cheese,

Glenda Pereira: 18:38

fresh cheese. Fresh white cheese.

Helder Ponte: 18:39

I can do easy a meal with two or three breads and a a full cheese in the in the middle Yeah. In the middle of papuseyko. Yes. Papuseyko.

Glenda Pereira: 18:48

We do Some jam.

Helder Ponte: 18:50

Jam. Yes. Yeah. Jam with the cheese. It’s my favorite meal.

Glenda Pereira: 18:53

Awesome. So, yeah, the cheese here really good. So we hope listeners that wanna travel here in the future to the Azores, try all the cheese and all the astronomy, the Saint George cheese, the Saint Miguel.

Helder Ponte: 19:05

People from from outside

Glenda Pereira: 19:07

know it really well.

Helder Ponte: 19:08

For example, the the people that that that are that is are hearing us. Hearing. Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 19:14

Hearing. Yeah.

Helder Ponte: 19:14

Yeah. I think it will be nice to taste it because the the cows on Saint George, I think, you know, they don’t eat. Right. So the the milk, it’s different. Yes.

Helder Ponte: 19:26

The cheese is different because of that. Yeah. It’s it’s a good cheese. I put cheese that cheese on the on the pizza also.

Glenda Pereira: 19:33

With that, thank you so much, Elder, for your time today. I learned so much from you. I love love that you are assisting farmers

Helder Ponte: 19:41

Yes.

Glenda Pereira: 19:41

With all the technology because I think it’s a really good investment. Like you mentioned, we need technology. There’s so many benefits outside of just labor and labor replacement. So for folks who would like to suggest future topics for our podcast or have comments, questions, be sure to email us at extension.farmcast@maine.edu.