Mitihoon – Did you know that cow milk consumption started in Thailand just decades ago?
“Milk” and dairy products are highly nutritious. They offer essential nutrients to humans, which are especially important to children. Thanks to milk, new-gen Thais are significantly taller and better-built than their predecessors.
Cow milk has made its way into Thai culture only after 1957. Today, the milk industry is worth more than Bt30 billion. Each year, a Thai consume about 22 liters of milk on average. The volume is so little when compared with 77 liters per person in Taiwan, 36 liters in Japan, and 33 liters in Singapore. Thailand’s dairy farms are now facing various other challenges too.
True Blog lately sat down with Tirapat Manakul, the third-gen owner of Manakul Farm, to listen to how he has applied “True Farm Cow” as a digital tool to lower costs and risks, enhance productivity, and upgrade milk quality to Western World standards.
Dairy-farm Basics
Tirapat explained that Manakul Farm in fact operated as a mixed farm over 51 rai of land in Saraburi’s Wang Muang district. In its compounds are not just a dairy farm but also a walking catfish pond and a flower orchard. Its founder was his paternal grandfather, Sangwian Manakul, who was among the first batch of students at the Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand. This organization was established in response to an initiative of farsighted His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej (King Rama IX), who recognized the benefits of dairy farming during his visit to Denmark in 1960.
During the early years of the organization, Thais were not familiar with the idea of earning a living from dairy farming. But soon, many farmers realized that this livelihood offered security because of relatively constant demand and stable income when compared with other types of farms. Their livestock produced cow milk every single day. The output had a clear market for as long as its quality or qualifications met prescribed criteria. To meet good standards, dairy farmers need discipline, attention to details, and a thirst for more knowledge.
In Tirawat’s view, three factors that determine the success of dairy farms are milk quantity, milk quality, and breeding results. Operators of dairy farms therefore must consider all relevant components such as cow-milk varieties, feed and weather conditions. Also in the picture are the costs of animal feed and labor, as well as risks of epidemics. As such, ‘good management’ should be at the heart of dairy-farm operations.
High-producing cow milks are usually of European species. Holstein Friesian cows, for example, can produce 40 liters of milk a day on average when it is raised in cool weather. Due to Thailand’s tropical climate, cows get easily stressed, with their milk production capacity affected. So, investments in Holstein Friesian cows may not be well worth in Thailand. On average, a cow at Thai dairy farms can produce just 12 liters of milk each day.
Milk quality is assessed based on somatic cell count, bacterial numbers and the amounts of solids in milk. To get quality milk, farm operators must provide quality feed to their cows. While “feed” is a key factor of milk quality, it also accounts for 60% of dairy-farming costs. As cows are ruminants, there are lots of details in feed preparations. Their feed must consist of coarse food (fiber-rich plants such as grasses and corns) and thick food, which is mainly made from corn. In recent years, animal-feed prices have been on the rise. Dairy farms, as a result, have become less profitable. Outbreaks – foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease – have also posed threats to dairy farmers, because they affect milk quality.
Rising Cost, Labor Shortage, Climate Change
Milk is not the only output of dairy farms, which can also produce “calves”. Dairy farmers must pay attention to the production of calves because they can serve as replacements if any milk cow must retire or get ill (At Manakul Farm, cow milks retire at the age of six years on average). When weak cows are removed, the average milk output will increase. Dairy farmers therefore must efficiently plan replacements.
“Monitoring and detection of rut behaviors” are important to dairy farms’ breeding activities. The success rate of artificial insemination will be low if it is carried out while cows are not in a rut. So, if dairy farmers fail to notice the rut behaviors early enough, they will have to wait for about 21 more days for the new rut period. Normally, farm workers are assigned to check if any cow shows signs of rut like standing still, making unusual noise and urinating frequently. This is a daily assignment, which must be done twice a day both in the morning and at dusk or at the time it is not hot. If they check cows during hot hours of the day, the animals may show behaviors related to stress, not rut. Following the check, they must record data. Extensive experience is needed to accurately identify cows in a rut. Such experienced farm workers are rare to find these days, because people tend to avoid working at dairy farms. Although farm owners have offered higher pay, most workers shy away because dairy farming duties involve monitoring cows almost 24 hours a day. They must be in charge of feeding cows, cleaning their shelters, bringing the cattle to milking parlors and keeping the animals in good mood.
In the face of various challenges, Manakul Farm started adopting technology since its management was passed on to the second-gen owner but without much success. When Tirapat returned to his home province of Saraburi at the age of 31, he however had already accumulated 10 years of experience as a consultant at construction firms. So, he was well equipped to apply his knowledge to systematically solve problems at his family-owned dairy farm.
“Upon my return, I became the manager of Manakul Farm and found out about its many problems. I consulted animal husbandmen and they recommended ‘True Farm Cow’. This system helps with the monitoring of cows’ behaviors and health. This digital solution is designed especially for dairy farms, offering observation accuracy and saving labor cost. So, it’s worth investing in,” Tirapat said.
Digital Technology: The Right Answer for Dairy Farmers
Khongphat Prasarnthong, business development manager of True Farm, explained that True Farm Cow is a digital technology solution with 30 years of track records, developed by the world’s leading veterinary service provider MSD Animal Health. In collaboration with True Digital Group, Thai dairy farmers are able to manage their farm precisely and holistically with the system that could track behavior of individual cow 24/7, including rumination, eating and motion, which reflect their health and well-being status. Thanks to the internet of things technology and connectivity, the “Smart Collar” allows farmer to witness every single activity by minute. The artificial intelligence will then analyze inputs of tracked data, giving them notification and alertness once the abnormalities are detected. This also includes the right time for mating season. As a result, True Farm Cow plays a significant role in cost-saving, covering the reduction of breeding cost for artificial insemination together with medicine and treatment expenses for segregation of sick cows. Furthermore, it highlights the pros of farming productivity, with the increase of successful rate of artificial breeding, while owners themselves can be scale up their business without worries over labor shortage.
In addition, True Farm Cow highlights the ease of use, offering data recording and visualization through dashboard, outlining the behaviour of cows on a daily basis, such as artificial insemination, pregnancy test and vaccination. Group monitoring of cow behavior is also provided in order to give a big picture of farm management, including heat stress rates, success rates of artificial breeding and the reproductive failure. In other words, True Farm Cow acts like a personal assistant of a farm, covering every single farming task from recording to summarizing data. Thus, decision-making will be done precisely and holistically through data by the owners.
Khongphat added Thai dairy industry is entering into the turning point, fueled by a myriad set of challenges – labor shortage, extreme climate condition, outbreak risk and the rising costs. As a result, the number of daily farms is facing a 20% decrease over the past 5 years as they struggled to combat against expense hikes, leading them to desperately suffering from huge loss. Besides, dairy product Free Trade Agreement has taken into effect on Jan 1, 2025. This will heat up the competition in the global dairy industry with level playing field. Thus, it is the do-or-die time for all stakeholders – government, private sector and farmers – to collaborate, raising the competitiveness across the value chain to overcome upcoming challenges.
“Although a lot of challenges ahead, but a wealth of opportunities is also there for those who is ready to adapt thanks to growing trend of health-conscious consumers, the increasing demands of high-quality dairy products in global market amid the expansive aging society. Using global-acclaimed innovation is key for Thai farmers to escape debt distress and experience a sustainable growth as visually proven in the West,” said the business development manager of True Farm.
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