Gone are those long, tiring AI days, says Australian dairyman Trevor Shanahan, who started using a cow monitoring system early 2021. A fourth-generation dairy farmer, Trevor, his wife Sarah and parents Pat and Trish, are all actively involved on the farm. One of his young daughters might take over one day.
More Moments That Matter Thanks to CowManager
A life-changing tool
“It’s an easier way of doing things and it allows us to pay more attention to the care of individual cows. We have better control. We can keep an eye on them, and nothing slips through the cracks.” Trevor’s life has changed since using cow monitoring, and he’s not the only one.
Across the pond, in Southland, New Zealand, the life of farmer Dayna Cunningham has also been made easier due to cow monitoring technology. “It enables us to have one less person in the cowshed. So, we haven’t had to have that person standing on the stand picking cows, which then allows us to take care of other jobs during mating that we wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
Family man and dairy farmer Sander Penterman from the USA agrees and adds that using tech isn’t only better for your business, it also contributes to your personal life. “In your house, with your kids at a sports event: You can still monitor, you always have a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on. It gives us more freedom, more opportunity to spend time with my family.”
Better for the Farmer, Better for the Farm
Better control, more time for other odd jobs – which there are always plenty of on any farm – and a more fulfilled personal life, thanks to peace of mind. Cow monitoring really does seem to have it all from a farmer’s perspective. But what about the cows and production?
According to South African farmer Pieter Barnard, using a cow monitoring system can even save lives. “In the past we would have to physically walk through the groups every day to detect sick, cycling and lame cows. Currently, we can flag the cows on the system, instantly decide and act early on.”
Herdsperson Tiffany Schneider weighs in: “We have decreased our labor bills because we’re not locking up these cows as much and decreased in our veterinary bill too. We’re letting them keep up with their routine which is what they like to do. That has also given us time to do other things that maybe weren’t getting done as much before. It has freed up hours within our day to better manage the cows.” Tiffany works at Paulus Dairy, Wisconsin, USA, and has been using the CowManager system for years. As all farmers in this story have, actually.
Where Accuracy and Efficiency Meet
Not only does CowManager save time and money on labor, but it also allows them to manage their herd and business more accurately and efficiently. USA farm owner Chuck Fahey: “We’re picking up cows that we normally wouldn’t see. You can’t be out here all the time. CowManager’s out here all the time. And your employees are busy enough milking and moving cows. They don’t have time always to write down one. Whereas CowManager gives you that little window when they need to breed them, and it just works spectacular.“
Ruurd Dijkstra from the Waikato in New Zealand says using CowManager has made a ton of difference in his business management. “In the past we’ve had some less motivated people that didn’t really look at what was happening or did not really know what to look for. An automation system looks at cows 24/7, which no person ever can do as well as the computer does. We found that things got a lot more accurate, and it saves us an awful lot of time.”