CowScout collars lend Arjun Singh from Lawwal Holsteins a helping hand when it’s needed most.
Managing 1,000 cows in a free-stall barn environment, Arjun Singh relies on CowScout for accurate health management and heat detection. CowScout gives Arjun the advantage to know when feed rations need changing, insights into optimal insemination times, and better health management – ultimately saving him time and money.
Arjun Singh runs 1,000 cows on his family’s 250-hectare dairy farm in Whitikahu, New Zealand. No strangers to the area, the Singh family have farmed the region for 110 years and have worked this particular property for the last three decades.
While dairy farming undoubtedly runs in Arjun’s blood, he’s running a pretty unique farming operation. A free-stall barn houses the herd year-round and they grow 70-80% of feed on-farm via maize and grass silage. Here, Arjun manages a team of six full-time staff, as well as some part-timers for the cropping and calving seasons.
And sustainability is at the forefront of all the decision making.
“We love the cycle farming brings. We’re growing grass, bringing it into the barn, producing milk and putting the effluent back into the ground. It’s a sustainable system we’re trying to run here,” Arjun says.
Arjun has been using CowScout collars on the herd for just over a year. CowScout tracks individual cow activity to provide valuable insights on reproduction, eating and rumination.
Keeping tabs on each cow 24/7 gives Arjun an advantage with health management.
“The rumination was key for us. With the cows in the barn, getting the transition right is important and with the total mixed rations feeding system, the cows can go off feed really quickly. Being able to pick up on that is crucial and being able to alter that in our feed ration as we go.”
By analysing rumination rates, Arjun can determine feed quality. And because feed quality directly impacts production and overall animal health, Arjun finds this pretty important.
“Normally we aim for about a 44% rumination rate. We find at around that rate the cows are milking well and the health is really good. We usually see if it drops under 40% there's something wrong with the feed; the cow's rumination is telling us that something's not right.”
Ketosis can be a big factor for cows in a barn environment. Knowing rumination rates means the team can work on getting rates back to normal as soon after calving as possible, which is crucial for animal health - particularly in older cows.
Arjun says the heat detection feature of the collars makes running the farm from both a time and money saving perspective very effective.
“Before we had the collars, we had a guy that had to stand up on the vet stand for 4 hours looking for cows that were on heat. Now, the cows all get drafted by themselves through a draft gate. Our manager comes at the end of milking and A.I's them. So, we've probably saved a good three and a half to four hours a day,” says Arjun.
Arjun can now pinpoint when a cow is at her optimal insemination point. The farm uses a lot of embryo transfers, so knowing exactly when each cow was last on heat means they can synchronise cows for a specific day for embryo transfer.
“We use a lot of sexed semen, so being able to work out the factor of the heat helps us with the sire selection on what bulls we will use on those cows, on that day. Breeding them twice a day, we can either pick morning or afternoon, if it's conventional or sex semen, so that's really helpful as well.”
Over the last two mating periods, in-calf rates have improved by 5-6% each mating. Arjun puts this down to CowScout’s ability to pick up on silent heats that would have previously been missed.
“In the past, the tail paint has probably not rubbed off enough for us to breed her. But now, if CowScout's telling us she's on the heat list, we just put all our trust into the CowScout collars, and I think that's paid off.”
Calving is a particularly busy time on farm. You can’t be everywhere at once, and CowScout offers that extra helping hand when it’s needed most. Arjun says he checks the dashboard first thing to make sure there hasn’t been any trouble overnight.
“If there's a cow down, it'll let you know. In the mornings we pick up the calves and just put them into the barn, and then just put the cows that have calved into the draft system, and they usually draft themselves out.”
The herd management aspect of the collars has helped Arjun make more informed decisions with less effort, giving him total control based off accurate data.
“With a thousand cows, it's hard to manually draft cows out for springers or cows that are sick. But with CowScout it just makes everything so much easier. You can sit at your computer or your phone and set things up at home, set up drafts, set up cows that need to be dried off a lot earlier. It saves us a lot of time and it's accurate.”
Arjun thinks a bonus of CowScout is the flexibility to keep on top of things without physically being there.
“I don't have to be here as often, which is important. When I'm away, I can just check my phone and see what's happening at home. I can put in cows that need to be drafted, or if some cows are sick, I can give the guys a call and let them know to check on them.”
With the large yellow numbers on each side of the collars, Arjun has stopped tagging his cows. “For our vets and the staff, that's a game changer. We're always getting cows that lose tags. With these collars and with the numbers on them, it's easy for herd testing and it's easy for seeing them in the paddock. They really stand out,” concludes Arjun.
How Arjun Singh uses CowScout for heat detection:
How Arjun Singh uses CowScout for monitoring eating and rumination:
