After four years of using automatic heat detection for the herd, Toby Leppin does not miss the manual system.
Toby, Lyn, Nick and Sarah Leppin milk an Aussie Red herd on a dryland, hilly dairy farm at Bena, Victoria. The self-replacing 370-head milking herd is single-season calving from July 14 for up to 10 weeks to take advantage of spring growth. Average annual production in the past half dozen seasons has been 450 kilograms milk solids per cow.
The 147-hectare milking area is managed at a 2.6 head stocking rate, while fodder is harvested on the 170ha turnout area and brought to the farm to be fed out.
In 2003, Toby and Lyn replaced the 16-double-up herringbone with a 50-bay rotary dairy and installed automatic everything - feeders, identification, drafting, teat spray, retention bars, cup removers, all integrated.
"It means you can milk with one person," Toby said.
Along with Toby and Nick on the farm, there is a full-time and a part-time milker. Toby is a qualified artificial insemination technician and Nick is learning the skill.
Four years ago, they started using automatic heat detection, with collars on the cows. Mr Leppin said the upfront cost was $60,000 for installing the 400-collar system, with an ongoing annual cost of $1200 for replacement batteries.
"We hope to get eight years out of the collars," he said.
"The batteries don't cost more than scratchies and tail paint each year. But the actual capital outlay is not much different to buying eight bulls each year," he said.
He estimated the replacement cost for collars would be close to $100,000.
"It's worth it because you get so much information about the cow from the automatic system," he said.
"It really highlights the different cycles and heat periods each cow has."
As the cow comes in to the dairy for milking, it is drafted through and the computer program updates it details, raising an alert if it is showing a spike in temperature.
"What we have on the system is so much information about the cow, the historical data about her different cycles and heat periods," Toby said.
"It's a really helpful system for identifying and analysing quickly, using hourly and daily graphs, what that cow does over a 21-day rotation. It's really quick and obvious to see.
"We might have a cow that barely breaks the line, but if you look at last year's data, you can differentiate between what's really heat and what might be a temperature spike for other reasons. That gives you confidence of the heat activity of each cow.
"Within 10 seconds, you've made a decision, yes, she's on heat; and she's going to be joined.
"You don't get that confidence with scratchies and paint."
The system also sounds an alert if the drafting scan identifies the battery needs changing.
"The collars on our cows do need the battery changed." Toby said.
"So you have to monitor through the system that the battery is going flat. But because you can get an alert as the cow drafts onto the milking platform, it's all dealt with there."
There were a number of positives that naturally fell out of this investment decision.
"You eliminate bulls off the property," Toby said.
"Bulls aren't as fertile as people think - a slight increase in temperature and their semen condition drops. They cost a lot of money to buy and a lot to keep.
"Having eight bulls standing around for 11 months for four weeks' work is similar to someone sitting on a couch for 11 months and wanting to run a marathon without preparation."
Fertility remained the same without bulls and using the collars.
"Our reproduction rate is still 13 per cent empty," Toby said. "We only keep young cows who are milking well, if they are empty."
The herd management system, set up by Nick Leppin, complements the automatic heat detection system.
"When a cow calves, for 44 days she's highlighted white on the computer program; for 42 days she's highlighted green; once she is joined, she's highlighted blue for 21 days.
"We wait to see if she comes back onto heat; if she doesn't, she's highlighted yellow.
"As you're milking, you can look up and check a cow; and that gives you a quick alert visually that she might not have cycled in 90 days."
Genetic selection has remained the same, with a focus on using quality bulls with the necessary breeding values preferenced by the Leppin dairy business partnership.
"We focus on fertility and udder strength," Toby said.
"It's necessary to build udder conformation and strength in the Aussie Red breed."
Joining and calving are the only intense periods on the farm, which leads to better workforce management and utilisation.
"Joining and calving melds, so in the morning for a few weeks during the year, we have two people on milking. It's the intersection," Toby said.
"I'll get an alert or a call and know the system has identified one or more cows are in heat and they're drafted after milking and waiting for me.
"There's been a few times this year when we've been busy doing silage and the heat detection is done at milking. It's very efficient.
"Once you've done those six weeks of AI, you feel a sense of relief."
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