Datamars is a livestock management company that owns a number respected brands, including the Tru-Test brand which many farmers will be familiar with from things like weighing scales, stick readers and milk recording solutions.
Tru-Test is set to enter the Irish market with an offering of both ear tags and collars, which farmers can use to help with things like heat detection and finding sick cows.
James Donovan, who has recently joined the Datamars Irish team as head of solution design for smart farming and product manager for Tru-Test Active Tag, said: “The real advantage here is the time-saving and the confidence a farmer gets from knowing their cows are being looked at for the farmer by this software.”
“Farmers buy it for the heat monitoring but love it for the health monitoring.”
For dairy farmers, the Tru-Test Active Tag is an easy, simple to use and fast to install platform. Due to the plug and play gateway, and advanced hardware technology for quick collar and tag activation, farmers spend less time setting up, and more time where it matters.
The Tru-Test Active Tag provides full access anywhere, anytime, from all devices. Specifically built on a cloud-based platform, it enables unlimited connectivity and users, making accessing critical information and receiving crucial alerts possible 24/7, no matter where you are.
The Datamars Livestock and Tru-Test technical specialists deliver world-class support only a phone call away, offering comprehensive guidance.
With a network of accredited Active Tag partners, Datamars is in the business of supporting and helping develop businesses, offering peace of mind so you can focus on your work.
How does the collar work?
The collar is simply placed around the cow’s neck or alternatively, the ear tag can be tagged in a cow’s ear – similar to a cattle tag.
When in place, the Tru-Test device will monitor the animal’s activity throughout the day. The device collects data on the cow’s rumination, standing, lying, feeding and resting, and processes the data to form a report on the animal’s activity.
The software will pick up early stages of common health issues (i.e. bloat), and other illnesses much earlier than the farmer could see it. It will identify sickness or illness in a cow before the issue has become a problem.
All data is put together to determine how active each individual cow is and how each cow’s activity compares to the rest of the herd.
The Tru-Test algorithm will identify outliers in its data collection – respective to the entire herd.
Each cow is compared to its normal self, and the group, to identify if the cow is in heat, dull and/or showing early signs of sickness.
From the data, the farmer gets an alert to tell them which cows are in heat and which cows may be sick, and this data is then used to manage the cows accordingly.
The cow’s collar or tag connect to a unit known as a gateway that is installed on the farm.
The gateway processes the data and feeds it back to the farmer via the app in a straightforward format.
The system has been trialed in Ireland; New Zealand; the US; Italy; Argentina; France; and a number of other locations. It will accurately identify cows in heat and sick sows in both an indoor and outdoor system.
The main difference between the tag and the collar is battery life. The tag will last about three years, whereas the collar will last for over seven years.
The monitors can be used on dairy cows or suckler/beef cattle.
How would the system save on time?
The device is guaranteed to save a farmer time as it eliminates the need for the application of other heat detection aids and saves time that would otherwise be spent herding and checking for sick cows.
By using Tru-Test and it’s connected solutions, farmers are choosing Smart Farming practices and are making technology do the work for them.
Following the instillation of Tru-Test in a farmer’s herd, monitoring animals for health and heat detection becomes very straight-forward.
When a farmer is sitting down to their breakfast in the morning, they can check on their phone to see if any cows require attention that day.
The farmer can then see very quickly which cows need to be drafted and which cows the farmer needs to keep an eye on as they are coming through the parlor.
When Tru-Test is installed on the farm, a farmer can give access to the software to other staff and take a day off without having to worry about missed heats. Its simple setup allows farm staff to see which cows may require attention and which cows are in heat at a glance on the app.
When the Tru-Test collars or tags are in place, heats won’t be missed because the collar works irrespective of the farmer being there or not.
A relief milker can quickly see which cows need to be drafted without having to visually examine the herd before/after milking.
The gateway takes in data from all animals within a 500m radius. However, the system is designed to suit cows which are grazing outside that radius.
The monitors on the cows continue to record and save data when the cows are outside the radius and once they come within half a kilometre of the gateway (i.e walking in for milking) the cows’ data from the day/night will be instantly communicated back to the farmer.
For more information, visit the Datamars website by clicking here.
Datamars
Datamars global HQ is in Switzerland and the company has offices all over the world. Its Irish base is in Little Island, Co. Cork and the business also has offices located in Dublin.
