“Identifying heats and administering mating plans is a full-time job. Also, staff must be experienced and motivated for heat detection so that the in-calf rate of the herd is fully maximised,” the company says.
“By integrating EZ Heat into your existing farming system you are set to improve the reproductive performance of your herd, increase accuracy and simplify your farm management during the busy mating period.”
With EZ Heat, the camera automatically identifies activated (missing and not activated) heat patches and communicates directly with the Protrack draft gate to draft out cows with activated or missing heat patches. After each milking these animals will be waiting to have their heat confirmed and their mating plan administered.
LIC Automation says this reduces the hassle of heat detection by:
- Automatically identifying standing heats, as indicated by an activated heat patch. This takes the pressure off farm workers by removing the need to view cows, and is likely to make heat detection more accurate.
- Automatically drafting cows with an activated or missing heat patch, so that the right animals are ready for AI at the end of milking. So staff are free to focus on the business of milking.
- Monitoring animals in your mating group only – meaning no time or effort is lost on cows you don’t wish to mate.
EZ Heat also enhances mating management by:
- Capturing pre-mating heats automatically. This will allow easy identification of non-cyclers, so that timely action can be taken, increasing their chances of cycling activity and their opportunity for AB mating.
- Providing a simple set of reports, giving farmers the power to make better, more immediate decisions when it matters most.
- Providing the opportunity to extend AB (due to mating being easier). There is also the potential to eliminate use of live bulls. Extending AB and reducing the use of bulls allows farmers to take advantage of short gestation semen, to tighten up the calving spread.
LIC Automation says farmers Joe and Suz Wyborn, Geraldine, use EZ Heat and are satisfied with it.
“The problem with identifying standing heats is being able to spot them, in the paddock or in the shed,” says Wyborn. “It takes time and effort and, if you miss a cycle, there’s the downstream cost of later calving and lost production.
“Before we bought Protrack I’d heard farmers saying they couldn’t farm without it. I wondered how they could be so reliant on a piece of technology; now I get it. I wouldn’t farm without it.
“I’ve had the camera for two mating seasons and it’s doing everything I thought it would.
“EZ Heat and heat patches have paid for themselves within a year from the savings in bulls (we used to carry 28, now it’s only 12) and savings in labour.”
The Wyborns do nine weeks of AB.
