Challenge: Efficiently finding and moving cows where you need them
Finally, you’ve found her, but she’s across the barn. Today’s not good for her, and now it’s not going to be good for you. She sees you politely directing her, using all the right techniques, but she has no intention of going where you want. She’s always been a stubborn cow.
Time is your most valuable resource – your time, your employees’ time and your cow’s time. Nothing drains your farm’s efficiency and bottom line like time wasted looking for a cow that needs treatment, a pregnancy check, health check or to be bred. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could automatically find her and quickly provide her what she needs? What if she was already waiting for you in a desired location?Find your solution
Challenge: Keeping animals and employees safe
You work hard to provide the best animal care and the safest working environment for your employees. Injuries to animals or your employees affect morale. They also stack up as losses for your business.
During cattle handling, your very presence could ignite a flight or fight response, leading to injury of both animals and employees. In a survey* of dairy farms completed in 2014, farms reported that employees had lost workdays due to injury in the previous year and that cattle were involved in about 75% of these injuries.
* Sorge, U.S., C. Cherry, and J.B. Bender. 2014. Perception of the importance of human-animal interactions on cattle flow and worker safety in Minnesota dairy farms. J. Dairy Sci. (In press).
Challenge: Stressors impact performance
Stress affects animal performance. Interruptions in their daily routine negatively impact production and your potential profits. This includes stress from your employees working to move or sort animals out of the group. Not only does it stress the cow you are wanting to move, it stresses the cows around her. Even when following the best handling practices and techniques, employees may unintentionally stress animals.
It’s not a mystery – researchers have studied the effects of stress on dairy cow production. When a cow is stressed, adrenaline interrupts the oxytocin response, impairing their milk let down and, ultimately, your bottom line.Find your solution
Solutions
The solutions that face these challenges:
- Cow locating
- Cow Traffic