BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- An intelligent sprinkler system is being used in dairy farms in suburban Beijing to cool cows and ensure milk production, according to Beijing Daily Wednesday.
Cows have underdeveloped sweat glands, so they have poor tolerance of high temperatures. In the summer heat, they often reduce feed intake, decrease milk production and are less resistant to disease. Cooling sprays and sprinking systems had previously been used on the cows, but in the past these typically required manual operation.
Developed by the Beijing Animal Husbandry Environmental Monitoring Station, the intelligent sprinkler system was adopted at dairy farms in Beijing's Yanqing District.
It can monitor the temperature and humidity in the cowshed, accurately sense the position of the cows, and dynamically adjust the spray intensity to alleviate the heat for the animals.
The system also uses water conservation technology, saving over 50 percent more water than the traditional spray.
Compared with the same period last year, milk production increased and a dairy farm with 1,000 cows increased its profits by 100,000 yuan (about 14,680 U.S. dollars) per month.
The system will be adopted in more farms in the suburbs of Beijing to ensure the stable supply of high-quality milk in the summer.
