Intelligent Showers to Counter Heat Stress

Cooling cows during hot weather is, of course, part of the process of improving animal welfare. The Smart Soaker system is an intelligent shower that activates only when a cow is present.

“As everyone knows, cow comfort is essential to ensure good productivity in dairy herds,” says Guy Courcelle, founder of New Agriculture Technologies (NAT). “And we’re noticing something important: our climate is increasingly out of balance, which results in more frequent heatwaves than we used to have.”

Heatwaves often bring increased humidity, Courcelle continues, which significantly raises the perceived temperature. Like humans, cows are not only sensitive to actual temperature, but also to how hot it feels.

As a result, cows can quickly become uncomfortable, which in turn reduces their productivity. “Studies have shown that cows can already experience heat stress at just 16°C (60.8°F). So imagine the impact of temperatures reaching 30, 32 or 34°C — it’s thermal shock.”

So, what’s the solution?

“There are two schools of thought,” he explains. “The first – the traditional one – is to increase ventilation. That does help, but beyond a certain point, ventilation alone is no longer effective in lowering the ambient temperature. Plus, excessive airflow can make cows uncomfortable, especially if the airspeed is too high. Add to that the noise levels, which become another source of stress. So, in cases of heat stress, simply boosting ventilation isn’t enough.”

Misting the barn can also help cool cows, Courcelle notes, but when the air is already saturated with moisture, adding more water becomes ineffective. “You just can’t do it. And if misting is used throughout the building, it ends up wetting the bedding and feeding areas and adds a large volume of water to the manure that ends up in the pit. It’s a high water-consuming practice.”

The other option, as a complement to ventilation, is the intelligent shower, Courcelle explains. It was introduced in Texas in 2018.

Time to shower!

The Smart Soaker system is a cooling shower installed every two spots along the feed bunk, Courcelle describes. A cow that feels the need to cool off stands beneath the shower, which detects her presence and releases a targeted spray of water roughly at shoulder level — where the cooling effect is most impactful. The cow decides on her own whether she needs to cool down. The producer, for their part, sets the activation temperature. For example, the system can be programmed so that fans run until 20°C, and showers activate above that threshold. “The Smart Soaker can save up to 70% of the water used by conventional soaking systems,” notes Courcelle.

A study conducted by the University of Florida compared three herds in the same barn with identical ventilation:

• The first group had no water-cooling system. Daily water use per cow: 150 L.

• The second group was in a barn equipped with timer-controlled sprinklers. Water use per cow: 450 L (timer sprinklers activate regardless of whether cows are present, inflating consumption figures).

• The third group used Smart Soaker intelligent showers. Water use per cow: 145 L.

The slight difference in water use between groups one and three comes from the fact that heat-stressed cows will drink more water to cool down. However, cooling from drinking is far less effective than surface wetting.

If we think about humans — in summer, we drink a lot of water to cool off. But when we dive into a pool, the cooling effect lasts much longer.

That’s exactly what the Smart Soaker provides: efficient, long-lasting cow cooling through optimized spraying.

“Field reports from the U.S. show that, in barns without shower systems, milk production can drop by up to 11%, and fertility by up to 22%,” Courcelle says. “With the Smart Soaker, milk production loss is limited to just 1%, and fertility drop to around 7%.”

Also for dry cows

The Smart Soaker shower system is also intended for dry cows, Courcelle adds. Heat stress in dry cows has been shown to reduce future milk production and negatively affect their offspring, so they must also be protected from summer heatwaves.

“In fact, there’s growing concern that cows exposed to one or more heat stress episodes could affect the future productivity of their heifer calves,” he notes. Studies are underway to determine the transgenerational effects of heat stress.

The Smart Soaker system can only be used in free-stall housing, Courcelle clarifies. However, with new regulations requiring dry cows to be kept in group pens instead of tie-stalls, the Smart Soaker may become more widely usable.

Smart Soaker showers are available by special order from your local BMR retailer.

BMR Group offers the services of a dedicated, skilled team that brings together specialists, merchants, engineers, manufacturers, and developers — all working to support agricultural producers.

Photo: BMR-Agrizone

Original article by Patrick Dupuis, from Coopérateur magazine.
See the article on the Coopérateur website.