Tarn Taran dairy owner gets CM award

Harpreet Singh runs a dairy in Tarn Taran’s Sohal village with over 140 cattle. However, his is no ordinary diary.
“When any of my cattle have any changes in their eating patterns, I get a notification on cell phone and I can give them the attention required to make sure they aren’t getting sick,” said Harpreet Singh as he explained how using artificial intelligence has radically changed managing the cattle at his farm.
Some six months back, at the advice of the experts from the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) he got 100 of his cattle equipped with sensors that track all the internal activities.
“They come with band-like leashes. They are tied to the neck and track all that is going inside the body of the cattle like how many times did it eat, how much did it eat, how often did it ruminate, and when is it in heat (the fertile period) etc.” he said.
This information helps Harpreet to provide his cattle with medical care if needed and ensures that breeding happens at the right time.
A single unit of the system costs around ₹17,000 to ₹18,000. Harpreet spent a total ₹16.67 lakhs to make his dairy smart.
He claims that not only has the milk production increased by 20%, but the cost of medicine has also gone down significantly as tracking helps in preventing diseases.
Besides the sensors his dairy is also equipped with a parlour that can authomatically milch six cattle at a time. “The milk gets to container without coming in contact with hands, where it is cooled down and transported to the company that buys from us.”
His dairy also has an automatic scraper for dairy waste management. He has well maintained silo pits for silage making and uses a total mixed ration machine to mix silage and concentrate for feeding.
He was honoured by the university with the Chief Minister Award in Cattle Farming category at the inauguration of the Pashu Palan Mela.