EARLY ACCESS: New results show that cloud-based digital assistant makes dairy’s labor more productive
The following article will be published in the Jan. 1, 2022 issue of Progressive Dairy magazine. Paid subscribers to The Cow Tech Report can read the article now prior to print publication.
Catching cows sooner that didn’t settle after breeding and who are eligible for a resynch protocol is one of the early benefits from new activity monitors and artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring at Rusk Rose Holsteins in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. The 500-cow dairy has been using Connecterra’s activity monitoring collars and AI assistant – named Ida – since the past summer.
“This is where Ida is really shining for us – catching cows in between preg checks to resynch,” says Evan Hillan, a fourth-generation dairy producer.
Hillan, his parents and the dairy’s herdsperson all have access to the activity monitoring data and the alerts it provides. Hillan says he felt like it took three weeks for the collars to collect enough data on his cows to form a solid baseline of information. The dairy has collars on all of its milking cows and breeding-age heifers. Hillan is responsible for the heifer program on the farm.
