Automated health management systems are helping dairy farmers struggling to find skilled staff make best use of their limited time.
Technology will never replace good stockmanship skills – but automated systems can provide a valuable extra set of eyes for farmers – enabling them to plan their workloads and prioritise tasks more efficiently.
Early warning
Potential solutions include SmaXtec’s ruminal bolus technology, which acts as an early warning system for animal health. It can flag up problems such as mastitis before they are obvious – saving farmers both time and money.
“The system allows you to administer a quick and easy treatment in a proactive manner, instead of time being spent looking after a sick cow – time that farmers don’t have,” says Robert Kirk, UK country sales manager for SmaXtec.
In addition, says Mr Kirk, the SmaXtec system can also monitor heat detection and issues calving alerts – freeing up time a farmer would previously have spent having to physically look for signs of bulling or calving.
“For a lot of farmers, this type of technology has very much become a day-to-day tool that they use to plan how they will spend the rest of their day,” adds Mr Kirk.
“On family farms in particular, the system enables them to look for any alerts – such as cows that need AId – and then plan who in the family is required in the milking yard, and who is free to do other work on the farm.”
Lastly, Mr Kirk says the use of technology on farms can not only help farmers better manage their limited time but also act as a recruitment tool for youngsters coming into the industry.
“We’re trying to bring a lot more youth into the industry and they really love technology; while we don’t want them to only farm because of this, it can bring them another interest to the business,” he adds.