Measurement of pH in the cow's rumen for high-quality dairy product

• Main Authors: Fukumori, Rika, Hara, Kaori, Hiramatsu, Yuko, Ito, Atsushi, Arai, Kento, Ashibe, Shiori, Nagao, Yoshikazu, Sasaki, Akira, Yamamoto, Hirotsugu, Otani, Yukitoshi, Yasugi, Masaki, Yoshiura, Yasutoshi
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Costs; cow's rumen; Dairy products; grazing; high quality milk; high-quality dairy product; Industries; Metals; pH sensor; Production; Prototypes; sixth industrialization; Three-dimensional displays
• ISSN: 2832-1324
• DOI: 10.1109/CANDARW57323.2022.00036

The consumption of dairy products per person is increasing, especially cheese and fresh cream. In particular, cheese consumption has been steadily increasing by 0.1 kg per person yearly. However, of the total 340,000 tons of cheese produced in Japan and imported by the country in 2018, domestic production was only 44,000 tons and had declined yearly. This situation is undesirable for maintaining the domestic dairy industry and food security. In addition, the government and local governments are currently promoting the sixth industrialization of the dairy industry. In order to meet this demand, it is necessary to increase the domestic production of dairy products. However, since competing with imported products on price is not viable, it is necessary to add value to dairy products. One of the measures to achieve this purpose is to increase the quality of dairy products through pasturage. Grazing allows cows to be managed in a more natural environment with less stress; thus, higher quality raw milk can be expected. Our research focuses on the health status of the cow's rumen, which is directly related to the health status of a cow. The health status of the cow's rumen often deteriorates due to overeating. However, we still do not know many things, such as whether there is a difference in pH immediately after eating. Therefore, we have developed a device that can transmit pH wirelessly from inside the cow's rumen.