SomaDetect Develops Breakthrough Technology to Monitor Health of Dairy Cows
FREDERICTON – Fredericton company SomaDetect has made a technological breakthrough that will help farmers more closely monitor the health and reproductive status of their cows, company CEO Bethany Deshpande announced today.
The breakthrough, which the company says is a major innovation in the global dairy industry, involves new advanced technology that detects the presence of progesterone, protein, fat trace antibiotics and somatic cell counts in raw milk without the need for reagents or consumables.
This means farmers using the technology will be able to monitor the reproductive status and health of their herd, and ensure the high quality of their milk supply for consumers.
“This goes far beyond what we believed was possible with this technology,” SomaDetect CEO Bethany Deshpande said in a release. “We began testing these experimentally and were shocked by how rapidly we were able to have very strong results.”
Our development provides reassurance to farmers that when issues arise, they will know about it. The development reduces the penalty to dairy farmers and acts as part of their on-farm quality assurance program.”
Detecting the presence of progesterone in milk will allow SomaDetect to provide dairy farmers with accurate information on when a cow is in heat and the optimum time to inseminate. According to the company, approximately two-thirds of heats are undetected on dairy farms.
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Being able to catch issues like these can be a major benefit to dairy farmers. The company says it guarantees farmers wouldn’t have to pay the stiff penalties if the bad milk was brought to the processing plant. It’s also an affordable solution, said Canadian farmer J.W. Dykstra.
“SomaDetect has created something for dairy farmers that I can easily use without having to spend money on big, expensive equipment or pay to have each of my cows tested every month,” he said in the release.
“With SomaDetect, I have more accurate information at a lower costs that provides feedback in real-time when critical decisions need to be made. Without question, when SomaDetect is on the market, I’ll buy it and show other producers the benefits of real-time information.”
SomaDetect has started piloting this technology on New Brunswick farms. It is also seeking investors and strategic partners.
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