The 2017 calving season is drawing to a close and farmers are becoming more app-savvy when it comes to calf registrations.
More and more farmers are using the Herdwatch App to register their calves with the Department of Agriculture as part of their compliance requirements.
The number of calves registered through the app in 2017 is up by 62% compared to the same period last year.
With 14% of the national calf births in Ireland being registered through the app, which is an increase of 9% on last year, it is clear to see that this is the way forward for calf registration compliance.
The top app-savvy counties for calf registration are Cork, Tipperary, Kerry, Limerick and Kilkenny, with their adoption increasing on average by over 50% during this year’s calving season.
What are farmers saying?
Liam O’Keeffe farms in Ballydesmond outside Mallow, Co. Cork, where he is currently milking 70 spring-calving cows and rearing their heifers. He says: “Calving down 70 cows on your own is a time and energy-consuming task, but I don’t need a pen or paper anymore to register the calves.
Most importantly, the information recorded is always 100% correct as the calf and dam are there beside me when I am registering them on the app. And you don’t even need 3G or Wi-Fi to do this.
David Lowry farms with his father John in Holycross, Co. Tipperary.
The father-and-son team milks 66 cows, run a suckler herd and finish all the male calves born on the farm.
David is one of the app-savvy farmers in Co. Tipperary that registers all his calves through Herdwatch.
“It saves me hours and allows me to register the calves as I tag them. I don’t have to spend an hour or two in front of the computer anymore when I get off the farm,” he said.
About Herdwatch
Herdwatch is an award-winning, innovative Farming App which gives dairy, suckler, beef and tillage farmers a more efficient way of managing herd management and paperwork.
It also helps them to be compliant with animal welfare and traceability regulations at all times. It currently has 5,500 customers in Ireland.
Herdwatch saves farmers valuable time by recording farm and animal events on the go – anytime, anywhere, even without internet access.
The app gives farmers peace of mind when it comes to recording legally-required information, such as calf births, and ensures compliance with national animal remedies legislation – a requirement which is weighing increasingly heavily on farmers.
It allows farmers to increase on-farm efficiencies by helping them to improve breeding management, animal health management and animal growth rates.
Liam and David are part of a growing community of over 5,500 farmers using Herdwatch every day to manage their herds and eliminate farm compliance paperwork. To follow in their footsteps and start your 30-day free trial click here