Sylvia & John Powell installed Censortec’s cow monitoring system on their 250-strong herd in February 2023.
Farming just outside Birr, Co. Offaly, the pair were looking for a way to make life easier.
‘John was unable to milk due to problems with his back, and we said we had to look at labour saving tools,’ explains Sylvia.
‘We were tail painting in pre-breeding, tail painting during breeding, and then carrying out our own AI for 6 weeks. There was a lot of manual labour, and hopping up and down off gates involved, and that just wasn’t something we could do anymore.’
Censortec cow monitoring is powered Nedap, who are the global leader in heat detection and health monitoring.
Data from the neck collars can be accessed via a phone, laptop, or tablet, always giving farmers full visibility of their herd.
CowControl Smart Tag
The Powells also installed an auto-drafting system, supplied by Alfco Farm Services, which integrates with Censortec neck collars.
The simplicity of the two systems is what appealed to John and Sylvia.
‘During breeding, I would have been there at each milking to top up tail paint and manually draft out any cows that needed to be served,’ says John.
Now, they find they can take the odd milking off during breeding, and the collars identify the cows that are on heat. Then they are drafted automatically, ready to be served at the end of milking.
‘It used always be stressful drafting cows and relying on tail paint,’ explains Sylvia, ‘But now, we just don’t worry about missing cows. We can head out at the weekends, come home, and AI what needs to be served when we get back. It’s made everything a lot simpler.’
The collars have had an impact on how the Powell’s manage their herd’s reproduction too.
Before installing Censortec, John and Sylvia carried out 6 weeks of AI, followed by stock bulls to clean up, and vasectomised bulls to help with heat detection.
‘Now we can AI for longer, and we’re getting better results. This year, we had a 10-week breeding season using 100% AI, and we didn’t feel the need to use vasectomised bulls either. The collars picked up silent heats too that we’d never have spotted with tail paint,’ continues Sylvia. ‘Our usual empty rate would be around 10-12%, but after scanning in 2024, that was down to 7.5%, which we were very happy with.’
The insights dashboard can be accessed via the Nedap Now app on the farmer’s phone. It is easy to give other team members access, and Sylvia likes the fact that she can log in remotely.
‘I can take the kids to the school bus in the morning, log in, and see how many I have ahead of me to AI. I know then whether I need to rush back or if I can take a bit longer!’ she laughs.
‘Censortec’s technology has given us a better quality of life, and I think the fact that it’s so simple and so stress free now, it’s added ten years to our farming life. For us, that’s the return on our investment,’ concludes Sylvia.
Censortec CowControl powered by Nedap is available from Censortec, who are based in Co. Kerry.
To find out more, visit censortec.com. You can also contact the Censortec team at 066-9713000
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