(Photo: Lachlan Fry and his niece Stella helping feed one of the first calves born as a result of installing the CowManager system)
The only regret Lachlan Fry has about installing CowManager in his dairy herd? That he didn’t do it sooner.
Since installing CowManager in May 2023, Lachlan – also known as Lachy – has nothing negative to say about the decision to monitor his dairy cows with the cow monitoring system. It’s all been upside as far as he’s concerned.
Lachlan manages the family’s Katandra Park Stud, a 50% Holstein, 50% Jersey dairy cow operation. They milk 140 cows at Brunswick Junction in south-west Western Australia.
Lachy is the fourth generation of his family to dairy farm, currently leasing a farm which includes a 220-acre milking platform and another 300 acres for youngstock and cropping. Around 60% of the property can be irrigated, usually from October to April each year.
For the past 18 months Lachlan has been running the Fertility and Health modules of the CowManager system. Although they don’t calve all year round, they do have an extended calving period from August to April, which suits the farm’s needs.
“Cows and the breeding side of things has been my passion from a very young age, so naturally you always take a greater interest in this side of the business”, Lachy explains.
The Fertility Module is known for never missing a heat and picking up on important moments of a cow’s cycle. Lachlan says using the system has been highly effective.
”I strongly believe getting cows pregnant is one of the most important things on any dairy farm and CowManager has really contributed to those one percenter’s that really add up. It’s been so beneficial to be able to pick up on non-cycling cows, cystic cows and general health issues before we do. And there’s the overnight heats you might just miss too. CowManager picks them all up.”
Lachlan is convinced that getting that precise window for AI has meant far less semen wastage, which is especially critical when using expensive sexed semen.
“It takes a bit of time to trust that the system is getting the timing right, but now I am confident in the system; in fact, we probably won’t pregnancy test in the future. It gives you the confidence to invest in good semen because you know you’re breeding the right cows at the right time.”
They now use no other methods of heat detection, relying entirely on CowManager to set the optimal timing for joining.
They’re also tracking the dairy cows’ health with CowManager. The Health Module allows them to pick up illnesses before clinical signs are detectable by the naked eye. This helps Lachlan and his staff run the farm in a proactive manner.
Lachlan explains: “I’ll often get a health alert that something suspicious is going on with a cow and I can check its rumination activity. If I’m not there I can get staff to check, often well before they have seen anything. I can get them to check a certain cow as soon as they come in in the morning. It’s just great reassurance and CowManager is very rarely wrong.”
Early alert notifications on a dairy cow can mean getting treatments started earlier and reduce the severity of the impact of a health issue. The dairy cow recovers quicker, and she is back in production sooner.
The system hasn’t just given Lachlan a grip on his dairy cows, it’s given him a sense of freedom.
“Installing CowManager has given me greater freedom to be away from the farm and still be completely aware of what the cows are up too, their activity levels and breeding status – all from my iPhone.”
“It’s the accumulation of lots of little things that make CowManager so valuable”, Lachlan says.
“The information available on the system is very powerful. You really know what’s going on with your cows. I think without this kind of system in today’s dairy business environment, you’re behind the eight ball.”
This article was written by Richard Meredith and previously published by Dairy News Australia.
In Australia, CowManager is distributed and supported by World Wide Sires Australia. No one knows the system better than they do. Want to know more? Don’t hesitate to reach out. They’re excited to discuss cow monitoring with you and answer any questions you may have.
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Our Health Module provides early disease detection! CowManager cows live longer, produce more milk, are in better shape and therefore perform better.
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View cycling and fertility history in Fertility Insights and see if a cow is suited to be mated to sexed semen.
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