Monitor Your Herd with CowManager

from The Premier Pioneer Spring 2021

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The CowManager herd monitoring system uses a revolutionary ear sensor technology to provide accurate, real time information about individual cows’ fertility, health, nutritional status, and location. Producers can opt into the modules that best serve their farm. Rottinghaus Family Dairy and Fincham Dairy LLC, both located in Kansas, currently use the Fertility Module, which provides data about heat intensity and heat stage for maximizing heat detection in individual cows. Read on to learn more about these two farms’ experiences with CowManager!

Josh Rottinghaus owns Rottinghaus Family Dairy

in Seneca, Kan. and milks 300 cows. After talking with a friend who used a heat detection system, Josh began researching different activity monitoring options for his own farm and landed on CowManager. He installed the system in July 2020.

Why did you decide to purchase a CowManager system?

Josh: I had been working with more employees, and the cost of drugs for synchronization was becoming exorbitant. Our cows milked well but the repro wasn’t what it should be. It wasn’t conception; it was a matter of finding cows in heat.

What has been the impact of CowManager?

Josh: It made up the money pretty easily with more pregnant cows. I am no longer on a standardized shot program, which has saved a considerable amount of money. Our conception rate has gone up, and it has worked out well.

I’ve put CowManager tags on all of my heifers, and now that I’m breeding completely off good standing heats, I’m using strictly sexed semen on my heifers, and then I’m even using some sexed semen “cherry picking style” on my first lactation heifers. I’ve just started that as a trial, so we will see how it goes.

You can be away and still know what’s going on at the farm. Just this morning, I had to leave early to take my kids to the dentist. A bunch of cows popped up to breed later and I wouldn’t have been there to see them. It is nice being able to have an extra set of eyes on the farm.

What are your goals moving forward regarding CowManager?

Josh: I am thinking about getting the Nutrition Module back depending on milk prices [producers receive a free trial of the different modules upon installation]. The rumination monitor on fresh cows is very helpful…when activated you can make a ration change and see if it is just one cow or the entire herd that is off. It gives you an extra tool to measure what is going on more than just a gut feeling. It eliminates some of the possibilities when figuring out a problem.

If a producer has issues with heat detection and wants to eliminate some money on drug bills, I’d definitely get CowManager. It’s a good system…it’s worked out well for me. –Josh Rottinghaus, Rottinghaus Family Dairy, Seneca KS “

Mike Fincham, Part Owner of Fincham Dairy LLC in Marysville, Kan., works with his father, Don, and other family members to run their 200-cow operation. As the primary manager of reproduction, Mike had been looking into the CowManager system for several years. After some research, he installed it in September 2020.

Why did you decide to purchase a CowManager system?

Mike: We wanted to increase heat detection and get away from all of the shots and heat detection aids we were using every week. The setup shots and patches on the back took quite a bit of time. We were hopeful that we could get away from that and catch natural heats.

What has been the impact of CowManager?

Mike: It catches cows in heat repeats a lot better. The first time heats I’m looking for them and I know I need to watch for these cows, but it’s the repeats that I’m catching way sooner coming back into heat. As a result, on preg check day most of the cows are pregnant. Then I only need to focus on those that aren’t cycling or are cystic. Now I only give shots to cows that are not cycling...I don’t have to wonder if I missed a heat. I can just look back at her graph and give her a shot.

The days to first service is going down, and I think it’ll go down even more as I get used to the system and get a feel for it. I’m getting semen into the right cows and picking them up right away if they don’t settle.

The other helpful part is just knowing when to breed a cow. Do I breed her tonight or wait until tomorrow morning? When you’re not watching 24/7 you don’t know where she is in her heat. You can use her graph to help with timing of insemination to get cows pregnant.

What are your goals moving forward regarding CowManager?

Mike: I want to continue to bring days to first service down, and I think that will continue to happen. I also want to fine-tune my strategy with sexed semen. CowManager makes me more confident in knowing when to breed cows, and in waiting a little longer until the tail end of the heat cycle for using sexed semen, we can get some heifer calves out of our best cows.