Computerization of a Diary Farm

Abstract

This report first gives the dairy farm computerization system diagram. Then this report analyzes and describes the system design guide by using personas. Three kinds of stakeholders, herdsman, farm owner and DEFRA are analyzed and described.

1Introduction

This report first gives the dairy farm computerization system diagram. Then this report analyzes and describes the system design guide by using personas.

2System Diagram

In this section, the system diagram of the diary farm computerization is given as Figure 1 shows.

 

 

Figure 1Diary Farm Computerisation System Diagram

3System Design Guidance

In this section, stakeholders of this dairy farm computerization system are analyzed and explained using personas. Certain attitudes, beliefs and the value of the people are identified, together with potential alliance and conflicts between them.

 

There are three kinds of stakeholders in this system, herdsman, farm owner and DEFRA respectively. Herdsman is employed by the farm owner, working to feed and get milk from the cow herd. Farm owner owns the farm, which means that cost management is very important to avoid bankrupt. Farm owner is regulated by the UK government but the UK government is a member of the European Union. According to the milk production quota policy by the European Union, the UK government made complying policies to follow the quota controlling policy created by the European Union. The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is in charge of the quota control, which means DEFRA controls the milk production produced by the farm owner.

3.1Herdsman

 

Figure 2 Herdsman

Herdsman is employed by the farm owner, working to operate on the milk apparatus and to manage the cow herd to be under control. Herdsman knows how to feed the cow and how to protect the cow from infection by kinds of disease, but constrained by natural human memory and precision, it’s difficult for herdsman to answer questions such as “how much food shall the specific cow eat in the third day of the lactation cycle”. Herdsman hopes to provide better care to the cow herd, and is proud of the achievement he has made for the cow herd. Herdsman is also willing to lower the labor level and spend more time with his family. So, the herdsman allies with the farm owner to produce milk, but he is in conflict with the farm owner because he wants more money and tends to work less for the employer.

3.2Farm Owner

 

Figure 3 The Farm Owner

The farm owner owns the dairy farm, which was bought from another farmer with a lot of money. The farm owner hopes to gain profit from the dairy farm, at least not to loose money in this business, or he’ll have to sell the farm. He sells the milks produced to the market and interact with the government, more specifically, the DEFRA to maximize his profit. He also buys food for the cow herd and pay salary to the employees, the herdsmen, to work for him. But unfortunately, the European Union has decided to control the milk production in the European, by applying a quota to each milk producer. Under the quota, if the farm owner produces more milk than the quota, then the extra milk will sell for no money. So the farm owner decides to control the milk produced by the cow herd, and by controlling the process of milk production more precisely, milk production of each cow can be maximized and consequently, the cow herd can be deflated to decrease the total cost of the dairy farm (few cows means less management, few herdsmen and less food cost). The farm owner is in conflict with the government (DEFRA) that the farm owner hopes to increase the milk production quota, but the UK government can’t disobey the European Union policies.#p#分頁標題#e#

3.3DEFRA

 

Figure 4 The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is a department of the UK government. It is responsible for making policies impacting food, farming, the environment, wildlife, pets, and etc. The milk production quota policy is made according to the European Union relative milk production quota policy. DEFRA also implement the policy they made, by assigning and checking the quota of each farm owner. DEFRA believes that each farm owner shall follow the policy they made without exception. It is in conflict with the farm owner that it imposes the strict policy on to the farm owner.

4Conclusion

This report first gives the dairy farm computerization system diagram. Then this report analyzes and describes the system design guide by using personas. Three kinds of stakeholders, herdsman, farm owner and DEFRA are analyzed and described.