increase font size
Matamata farmer Tony Hollinshead says the collars save a lot of guesswork.
With the mating season in full swing, cow sheds and farmers across the country have been busy.
While the days are usually long and arduous, this time of year is far less stressful for Matamata farmer Tony Hollinshead.
Since collaring his 350 cows in 2022 with AfiCollar cow monitoring technology, he says his time in the shed and labour costs have decreased significantly.
"The system makes mating so simple," says Hollinshead. "If a cow is in heat, she's drafted automatically, and I don't have to spend hours in the morning trying to figure out which cows to inseminate. It's saved me a lot of time and guesswork, and there's no need to use tail paint anymore.
"The collar is like my on-farm 2IC, and I don't have arguments about what channel the radio needs to be on in the shed!"
But most importantly Hollinshead says his herd is happy and healthy and he is confident knowing that he has the data every day to prove it.
John Stubbs, general manager Afimilk New Zealand and Australia, says his team have been working closel with their three national distributors Headlands, Ace Electrical and Reads Industrial to help alleviate some of those pain points for farmers at this time of year.
"Afimilk is getting a lot of positive feedback from farmers using our collars up and down the country. It's been a great season for our clients, seeing the benefits of Afimilk collars to their businesses daily."
The company says the technology is a game-changer providing insights about anoestrus cows, fertility windows, potential health issues and other vital information straight to the farmer.
"For farmers to have this info at their fingertips and the proactive backup of our team at the end of the phone sets us apart from our competitors," says Stubbs.
"In today's market, there are plenty of collars and software options to choose from. However, our team differentiates itself by offering proactive personalised support and fully customisable reporting whenever it is required. We take pride in our commitment to being there for our customers."
The collars can be used independentl or as part of the Afimilk integrated management farm system, including automated feeding, drafting gates, milk meters and AfiLabs milk component analysers.
In addition to local support provided by Stubbs and his team, farmers are also connected to a g;obal network pursuing the latest technology and innovation. This network oversees the monitoring of over 10 million cows daily via Afimilk software.
Milton dairy farmer Chris Wills says he began using probiotics in spring 2023 to address somatic cell count (SCC) grades when cows transitioned from their winter barn to lush spring pasture.
Treat your farm boundary like a border. This was one of the messages delivered to farmers at a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand Protect Your Patch workshop in Lincoln.
Feeding infected milk is high risk for spreading diseases such as M. bovis.
To ensure optimal growth, health, and wellbeing of calves, feeding strategies should be considered carefully.
Another milestone has been reached in the fight against Mycoplasma bovis with the compensation assistance service being wound up after helping more than 1300 farmers.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
OPINION: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.
