Transforming Cow Care and Boosting Dairy Productivity

It was this approach that led them to invest in a certain cow monitoring system. They’re using CowManager to help prioritise cow health, get cows in calf and increase production.

“When we decided to investigate wearables, we looked at all the options,” Blake elaborates. “We decided to go with CowManager because the device itself is so compact, it’s easy to manage and easy to use. On top of that, everyone I spoke to gave it great feedback.”

Catching Sick Cows Early

CowManager has several modules that track specific aspects of a cow’s well-being. Blake and Selene use the Health Module to recognise any illnesses early on, as well as the Fertility Module for heat detection. The system sends heat alerts whenever a cow is on heat, and health alerts one to two days before a cow even shows clinical signs of illness. It’s also a perfect tool for monitoring recovery.

For Blake, calving is the best time to utilise the health alerts. He says that when he wakes up, the first thing he does is look at his phone to check health alerts and see if there are any cows that require immediate attention.

“I’ve got that instant snapshot of what’s gone on the last six to seven hours while I’ve been sleeping. I don’t want to go waste two or three hours somewhere when there’s a cow that needs my attention straight away. So, it puts me in the right place at the right time and certainly helps those cows,” he says.

Saving Lives During Calving

Since using CowManager, Blake has had steady results thanks to the highly accurate cow data. He even claims that without it, he would’ve lost some cows during calving.

“Early treatment and having the cows eating and healthy again certainly helps get them get in calf. Having CowManager makes a big difference. You’ll find the sick cows 24-48 hours before you would’ve previously with good stockmanship and observation.”

He continues: “The best thing it does is standardise and accurately pick the heats. We can get good, consistent results year on year. Get cows in calf and then it just gives us choice to be able to retain our best cows and move on the bottoms. That’s just going to drive our per cow performance. It definitely saves cows’ lives during calving and that busy time.“

Game Changer

So far for Blake and Selene, getting the cow monitoring system has been a big change, in all the best ways. Not only does it improve their in-calf rate, but it also saves on labour during those already very busy days. And they’re not just saving on labour in terms of hours and work-efficiency. It’s saving them time as well as costs.

Blake: “I didn’t have to pick those heats anymore. I didn’t have to pay for those scratchies anymore. I think if it comes to cutting costs, if we lose CowManager our costs could go up, because we’d lose all those gains and all the time you get back. It’s bolted onto the cows, and it will be for as long as I’m milking cows.“

He goes on, saying: “The time spent on the stand is probably a big one, that’s a big saving. The return on investment for us for something that was really affordable gave us so much back. That’s why we chose CowManager.”

Selene and Blake aren’t planning on farming without the system anytime soon, Blake shares. In fact, they wish they’d gotten the ear tags sooner.

“Once you get CowManager, it becomes a ‘how did I not have this?’, or ‘why didn’t I get it sooner?’. I can’t farm without this anymore, it’s a game changer, without a doubt.”