1. Rumen monitoring: How bolus data redefines SARA Professor Toby Mottram
Douglas Bomford Trust Chair in Agricultural Mechanisation
Royal Agricultural University
Cirencester
Thank you for the kind introduction.
Welcome everyone to this event which is kindly sponsored by Douglas Bomford Trust who have also endowed the chair. An inaugural lecture is a chance for a new chair in a university to give an overview of career and research achievements to date and to introduce the research, current and proposed to a wide audience rather than few students who usually attend lectures. 1 1

2. Overview Definitions of SARA Rumen bolus technology
Rumen pH results compared to clinical diagnosis
A new definition of SARA based on bolus data
We are at a very interesting time in the dairy industry rebuilding after the long interregnum of the CAP imposed quotas, Sixty years ago Bobby Boutflour was rebuilding the RAC research and teaching capability after the second world war. As then there is a lot of consolidation in progress and many producers will leave the industry, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the backward looking elderly farmer has been a drag on our industry. I have no sympathy for the view that things were better in the old days in terms of animal welfare or health.
I will work through my talk in a fairly logical structure talking a bit about myself, then the foundations of Boutflour and why and how we can continue to build on those foundations. 2 2

3. SARA: the problem
Sub Acute Rumen Acidosis is a problem in modern dairy herds
SARA defined as “extended” periods of “low” pH
What is “extended” and “low”. 3

4. The problem: why measure rumen pH
Cow biome is a complex interaction of 20k organisms
Forage quality is highly variable
Nutritional theory is hard to apply on farms
Milk output is conserved in the short term 4

5. Rumen pH Bolus Invented in 2003 in UK for a pharma company
First publication: Mottram et al., 2008
Start of bolus era (eCow, Smaxtex, Well Cow, Kahne)
Contains
pH transducer - input H+ ions outputs mV
Thermistor – input temperature output Ohms
Analogue to digital converter (ADC)
Microprocessor, Radio Antenna, Battery, Weight 5 5

6. Rumen pH Bolus 27 mm dia by 120 mm Lasts 90-150 days Inserted by mouth
Retained in Reticulo-rumen
Data downloaded by radio
Uploaded to internet
Analysed and interpreted
Made by eCow 6 6

7. Rumen pH data flow

8. What have we learnt from boluses in 5 years ?
A bolus in the reticulum can monitor the rumen
Bolus life is determined by sensor poisoning
SARA can be detected and corrected
Mean Rumen pH is not correlated to milk yield
Systems factors dominate rumen pH profiles 8

9. Rumen pH values
Sato, S, 2016, REVIEW ARTICLE, Pathophysiological evaluation of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) by continuous ruminal pH monitoring, Animal Science Journal (2016) 87, 168–177. doi: /asj.12415
: offset between reticulum and ventral sac is 1 pH 9

10. Reticulum pH maps to ventral sac pH +0.25 pH but dynamic differences10

11. Clinician diagnosis
Atkinson, O, 2013, Prevalence of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) on UK dairy farms, Proceedings of the BCVA
Used Rumenocentesis and pH of 5.5 as definition
Concluded that 30% of cows have SARA 11

12. This Study Data were from new boluses (<60 days)
Cows on commercial herds
4000 cow days were analysed with R script
To determine the validity of 0.25 or 1 pH as an offset between
Reticulum and ventral sac
To identify the length of time below thresholds
We are at a very interesting time in the dairy industry rebuilding after the long interregnum of the CAP imposed quotas, Sixty years ago Bobby Boutflour was rebuilding the RAC research and teaching capability after the second world war. As then there is a lot of consolidation in progress and many producers will leave the industry, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the backward looking elderly farmer has been a drag on our industry. I have no sympathy for the view that things were better in the old days in terms of animal welfare or health.
I will work through my talk in a fairly logical structure talking a bit about myself, then the foundations of Boutflour and why and how we can continue to build on those foundations. 12 12

13. Definitely clinical acidosis13

14. Definitely not!
A dry cow at grass 14

15. Is SARA linked to milk yield ?
This doesn't look well correlated ! R2 of 0.25 & 0.46 15 15

16. Summary We can use 5.8 pH as a threshold for SARA
(offset .25 pH from tradiutional 5.5 pH)
About 30% of cows have pH values below 5.8%
in reticulum
SARA is not correlated to high milk yields
We are at a very interesting time in the dairy industry rebuilding after the long interregnum of the CAP imposed quotas, Sixty years ago Bobby Boutflour was rebuilding the RAC research and teaching capability after the second world war. As then there is a lot of consolidation in progress and many producers will leave the industry, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the backward looking elderly farmer has been a drag on our industry. I have no sympathy for the view that things were better in the old days in terms of animal welfare or health.
I will work through my talk in a fairly logical structure talking a bit about myself, then the foundations of Boutflour and why and how we can continue to build on those foundations. 16 16

17. Daily patterns and values of pH are dominated by systems,
routines and seasons 17

18. SYSTEMS PATTERNS TMR 18

19. Daily events for a TMR Herd – Feeding, Milking and Push Ups Creatures Of Habit19

20. Robot 20

21. Grazing and Compound 21

22. SARA can be detected and treated using rumen pH data22

23. Daily Profiles SARA in a 12000 l herd
I developed the bolus to solve a monitoring problem for research scientists using fistulated cows where boluses can be recycled and refreshed. The biggest technical challenges in the bolus was to make the sensor last more than a few days and to keep it in calibration for as long as possible.
In 2012 we showed that the bolus lasted well in excess of 150 days – which is twice as long as the competition have achieved.
In 2013 under pressure from veterinary friends we started putting boluses into commercial dairy cows, we are still analysing the outcomes but the commercial company involved has now launched a nutritional service based on rumen pH data. 23 23

24. Same herd after a feed change24 24

25. Summary Rumen boluses can be used to diagnose SARA
Gives objective data about the cows routine
We can use 5.8 pH as a threshold for SARA
(offset .25 pH from tradiutional 5.5 pH)
Time below threshold is still to be determined
About 30% of lactating cows have pH values below 5.8%
in reticulum at some time during their days
We are at a very interesting time in the dairy industry rebuilding after the long interregnum of the CAP imposed quotas, Sixty years ago Bobby Boutflour was rebuilding the RAC research and teaching capability after the second world war. As then there is a lot of consolidation in progress and many producers will leave the industry, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the backward looking elderly farmer has been a drag on our industry. I have no sympathy for the view that things were better in the old days in terms of animal welfare or health.
I will work through my talk in a fairly logical structure talking a bit about myself, then the foundations of Boutflour and why and how we can continue to build on those foundations. 25 25

26. More information on www.ecow.co.uk
Thank You
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