Automated technology saves time and improves conception rates on dairy farms

In more recent years, farmers have been encouraged to lean in to automated activity systems, cloud-based technology and collars or eartags that measure the temperature spike of a dairy cow.

But how do farmers know what works best?

There is no short answer, because obviously it depends on the farm's business model.

Ultimately, the value of every cow milked is based on her production and ability to also produce a calf.

Dairy Australia research indicates in-calf rates using activity meters should be equivalent to traditional methods, because there is still a risk of false positives.

Other farmers are relying on traditional identifiers - as summarised above - but know change is probably just a matter of time.

Kelvin Jackson, Hazel Park, Vic, has recently entered a sharefarming agreement with his son who wants to invest in collars for the cows.

Mr Jackson said once his son Allan owned more of the herd, he expected change was inevitable.

For him, the cost factor and the battery lifetime - batteries require replacement in seven to 10 years at an additional significant cost - had repelled him from adopting this technology.

"I'm not against technology, but a lot of dairy farming is experience," Mr Jackson said.

"We check and change the filter at every milking. If we see the lumps in the sieve, we strip the herd at the next milking.

"Every cow gets checked weekly for mastitis, we check each cow during teat spraying and we also check the cell count."

Mr Jackson and his son milk 420 cows in a 22-double-up herringbone dairy.

"We've got more cows than we need," he said. "For me, it's important to be observant of the activity going on in the paddock and the yard.

"We use scratchies and tail paint. If we miss a couple of cows on heat, we can wear that risk.

"At the moment, I keep asking, does it provide information I don't have? The return on investment is not there for me.

"At half the price, it might be worthwhile, but then you still have to replace the batteries at significant cost every seven years.

"Probably when Allan has more equity in the herd, things will change."

In the past couple of years, there has been an uptake of neck, ear, ankle and bolus activity meters that can provide data about a cow's temperature (heat and health spikes), feed intake, rumen activity, movement and her milk production when it is connected to an automated milking system.

Activity meters store data and transmit blocks of data over periods of time. Initially, transmission relied on the cow coming into the dairy and within close proximity of an antenna.

But now transmitters have been upgraded and, using satellite and mobile technology, antennae are more powerful and can provide in-paddock records.

This means when the cow arrives in the dairy yard, farmers are already aware she could be in heat.

Many farmers have adopted collars on their cows and are finding it is a time saver.

It is also a method of identifying the health status of cows and avoiding health crises.

There are also opportunities for integration with other activities, such as automatic drafting gates and allocating feed rations.

Dairy Australia research indicates combining activity alerts with other information - also recorded within the database - such as when the cow calved, when she was last in heat and visually identifying her heat status improved herd in-calf inception rate.

Because rumination often decreased during heat, and the cow was more active, this was additional data to alert the farmer or herd manager to the increased likelihood of ovulation.

Activity monitors can also help farmers monitor and record data about their cows, which could be useful as part of recording carbon emissions from their farms.

Farmers from around Australia farming in different dairy regions and conditions say the improvement in in-calf rates has paid off their investment in collars.

Sandra Jefford, Wilandra Farms, Clydebank, Vic, said adopting collars and using the phone app eliminated two paddock checks a day, including at night. Integrated with automatic drafting in the dairy, the technology also saved time and labour.

Ms Jefford farms with Wilco Droppert and their son Luke Droppert. She said the technology helped with decision making and time management.

"Wilco wakes up in the morning and checks the app and uses that information to identify which cows are in heat," Ms Jefford said. "He then makes decisions about which semen to use."

Wilandra Farms invested in Allflex collars three years ago, with the assistance of a Victorian government Internet of Things grant, an incentive for farmers to use technology.

Their cows are milked in a 30-double-up herringbone dairy with automatic drafting gates.

"The collars are a big time saver," Ms Jefford said. "We used to check the cows in the paddock four times a day, every day."

It was Luke Droppert who hastened the decision making.

"We asked him to take on the night check and he said no," Ms Jefford said.

"Who wants to go out at night when it's cold and raining, wearing a head torch, and identifying which cows are on heat?

"We'd previously had collars when we had a robotic dairy and we found them very useful.

"When Agriculture Victoria was offering funding through The Internet of Things program, we applied.

"Now we check the cows twice a day when we're bringing them in for milking."

There are also opportunities for integration with other activities, such as automatic drafting gates and allocating feed rations.

"We all have the app on our phones," Ms Jefford said. "We've also added on a drafting module, so if 20 cows need to be separated out, we input that into the software package and it happens.

"Initially we used the computer, but we now can do it through the cow app.

"For example, if I'm following the cows in in the afternoon, and I see a cow that's lame, I can put her number into the phone app, and she's drafted out.

"It saves time, and it saves a physical toll. You don't have to get out of the pit and draft her out."

Phil Ryan, Hillgrove Dairy, Bega, NSW, said his workers were all able to use the phone app, which had improved in-calf rates by 10 per cent.

Just as importantly, the technology had recently saved the lives of two of his cows.

He employs two full-time and two casual workers and normally milks a herd of 200 cows, including high performance Holstein and Jersey cows.

His herd has been wearing Allflex collars for three years.

All employees have the app on their phone. Whoever is milking is expected to use the alerts through the app to identify cows needing to be drafted for AI.

"I had a few staff members with issues with heat detection. That was my primary driver for adopting collars on the cows," Mr Ryan said.

"I have some fairly high genetic merit cows, and a mix of Holsteins and Jerseys.

"I wanted to have as many cows as possible AI'd, to maintain that pure breeding.

"The ability to identify heats more accurately, particularly using sexed semen, was very attractive."

He has seen a 10pc improvement in conception rates in cows.

"We are also more likely to get cows pregnant with the first joining using sexed semen," Mr Ryan said.

"Last season, every Holstein cow except one was pregnant from the first round of sexed semen AI."

He has also used the technology to identify health crises, especially milk fever, and had saved cows.

"False alarms are okay, because the alerts have saved a couple of valuable cows," Mr Ryan said.

The system was not perfect. Recent updates on the phone app had changed the rumination report, which vexed Mr Ryan.

Calibrations to changes such as that and in other activities such as feeding took a while in the system.

"If you change the routine, it does take the collars and the app time to re-calibrate to what normal activity looks like, so you get some false heat alerts," Mr Ryan said.

That's when he ensured the herd data - last joining, last calving, rumination patterns - matched to the alerts to identify accurately cows on heat.

Mr Ryan's herd is part of a research trial using satellite real-time monitoring of pasture growth.

The collars of three cows in his herd are fitted with GPS trackers that enable the satellite to track movement of the cows and accurately predict grazing intensity.

"Even in the research phase, it's already useful because it's giving me real time access to pasture levels in every paddock," Mr Ryan said.

This project, called Dairy Up, is an example of integrating information across platforms, and is funded by the NSW government, Dairy Australia, University of Sydney and Scibus.

Con and Michelle Glennen, White Star Jersey stud, Mount Noorat, Vic, decided to prioritise their lifestyle and invest in Allflex electronic collar monitoring technology.

They were looking to identify better heat detection and improve animal health and in-calf rate.

The collar technology replaced heat patches and physically inspecting the cows during milking.

The Glennens' long-term goal is to build their herd numbers through utilising higher-value artificial insemination and sexed semen straws.

This is where they believed the automated monitoring solution excels, accurately predicting heat cycles to improve in-calf rates. More accurate predictions also enable them to spend time on other farming activities.

Katrina McRae, Heywood, Vic, said higher in-calf rates was a payoff for investing in collars.

Ms McRae, invested in Tru-Test automated heat and health monitoring using ear tags and collars for her Holstein herd.

The data she receives enables her to check day and night on cow health and activity, whether she is on or off the farm.

Ms McRae uses her phone or laptop to monitor her herd and adds notes to the recorded data using cloud-based software accessible by anyone in her workforce who is responsible for animal health and performance.

"I'll sit up early in the morning on the laptop before milking, to get a better idea of what's going on, and to add my notes and update any information so we can stay on top of herd health," Ms McRae said.

"It's pretty important when we're AI'ing to have the data available and easy to use."

Time management and a higher in-calf rate is a priority for Ms McRae.

She has used fixed time AI and oestrus sychronisation, but invested in the collars to get away from using drugs.

"One of the most important things to do is watch your cows," she said. "But we felt there had to be a better way of doing it and we wanted to cut down on the time we spend sitting in the paddock watching our cows."

Hence making the decision to rely on the collar technology.

"We want to get as many cows in-calf as possible on their natural heat," Ms McRae said.

"We hope the collar technology will give us a higher in-calf rate."

The collars have been integrated into the farm's existing Easy Dairy data system and include investing in new automatic drafting gates.

Sometimes a cow rids itself of her collar.

Ms McRae said it's a matter of picking the collar up in the paddock and refixing it to the cow's neck when she comes into the dairy.

Ms McRae spent time with technicians from Genetics Australia so she could understand how to use the data for best efficiency.