When it is time to breed our milk cow on our little farm, there is great discussion between my husband and me. Since we have just one cow, determining heat cycles can be a bit like detective work. She moos, we wonder. She swishes her tail a little more often than normal, we start guessing. The calendar is checked, the number of days since her last heat are determined, various cow parts are examined, and only when we are quite sure that she is in fact in heat do we begin the process of real in-depth analysis. Such as, whether she is just coming into heat, in the prime of it or perhaps she is at the end of her heat cycle. Usually this ends with an agreement to call Dustin, our very accommodating dairy farmer who will generally go out of his way to come straight away and perform artificial insemination. We mark it on the calendar and … wait.
This approach seems positively from the Dark Ages at best when compared to what I learned at our February board meeting. Perry Lilley, dairy farmer and Conservation District supervisor, brought in a device that looked similar to a seat belt that had a small plastic case attached to it.
The device, known as an HR-Tag, hangs around the cow’s neck and uses infrared technology to communicate the cow’s rumination monitoring, overall health index, and yes, heat cycle, including the hours left in which to perform artificial insemination. Common on dairy farms in Europe, the technology is just being adopted here in the U.S. and in fact, Lilley Farms is the first dairy in Maine to incorporate the system.
As the Lilley’s cows come into the barn to be milked each morning and night, their neck tag connects to a monitor on the ceiling, transmitting their information to a computer and screen in the milking parlor. Twenty-four hours of the cow’s head movements, walking, running, laying, standing up, cud chews, and temperature are able to be recorded through the HR-Tag’s motion sensor, microprocessor, memory and a specially-tuned microphone.
On a dairy farm of a certain size, I can see where technology can help with a better success rate of breeding and overall herd health, especially in catching a potential health issue in the early stages. I get the sense from Perry that one of the immediate advantages that he likes best is his reduced nightly barn check-out time. Whereas his nightly rounds once took 45 minutes, he now does a brisk walk-through, checks the computer screen, says a good night and heads back home.
Since my husband and I don’t plan on growing our bovine herd to more than one milk cow, I think we’ll stick with the excitement of figuring out our cow’s monthly heat on our own. Besides, it makes for some exciting spousal conversations.
Editor’s note: Angie Wotton loves her work as district manager for the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. She also raises pastured pork and vegetables with her husband on their small West Berry Farm in Hammond. She can be reached 532-9407 or via e-mail at angela.wotton@me.nacdnet .net.
