Dairy farmer John Stone of Co. Westmeath credits Censortec collars with his farm's ability to compact calving into much shorter blocks in the year.

John said: "We have a liquid milk contract, and we’d have been calving eight months of the year in the past. In more recent times, we’ve been working to reduce that.

John milks 200 cows in partnership with his son Thomas outside Moate in Co. Westmeath and installed Censortec’s activity monitoring system in 2023.

"The fact that calving is more compact means we can better manage the work on the farm now," John said.

"Calving is finished before you start breeding, and it makes everything so much easier because nothing overlaps."

John and Thomas started researching activity monitoring systems as their herd was experiencing missed heats. They found heat detection more challenging with increased numbers.

Thomas said: "We were relying on visual detection and tail painting. We were still missing cows, and non-cycling cows weren’t picked up that quickly."

They decided to install Censortec based on the recommendation of other farmers because it integrated with some of their existing technology.

John said: "One factor that contributed to us deciding to go with the Censortec collars was the fact that it integrated with our Delaval parlour software and drafting gate.

Censortec provides farmers with information on the herd’s activity through the Nedap Now software platform, which is available on PC and app. The technology integrates with a number of other service providers, including ICBF and Alfco’s Drafting Gate System. 

Features such as Optimal Time of AI (artificial intelligence) help farmers improve their fertility management and become more efficient.

"We’re using much more sexed semen now and getting better results. With the Optimal Time of AI, and the star rating for each cow’s heat, we know that the cows we’re giving sexed semen to have every chance to hold.

"We’re not wasting expensive sexed straws on cows with sub-optimal heats because Censortec tells us that," John explained.

The Co. Westmeath farmer went on to outline what he considers to be the main advantages of the technology.

"The biggest benefit is the labour-saving," John said. "It’s eliminated all visual heat detection and made our workload more manageable and streamlined.

Alongside the system’s heat detection capabilities, accurate information on each cow’s health status is provided in the form of a Health Score through Nedap Now.

This score is based on her individual activity and any changes in her normal condition. John and Thomas use the Health Score to identify health problems early on.

"We’re finding that we’re spotting cows with minor problems that bit quicker, so we can treat them with less medication. I’d say we’re picking things up at least 12 hours before we would have previously," John explained.

Censortec’s activity monitors are powered by Nedap’s cow monitoring technology, a global market leader in this area.

Over six million cows worldwide wear Nedap’s technology, making it one of the market's most trusted and reliable activity monitoring systems.

John and Thomas value the system’s reliability and the technical support provided by Censortec.

"We’ve had little to no issues with the collars since they’ve been installed. 99% of the time it’s user error rather than an actual problem," John said.

‘"The back-up service is brilliant, and any time I’ve had to ring (Censortec sales representatives) Andrew or Sean with questions, they’ve been answered straight away."

Based in Co. Kerry, Censortec is the main agent for Nedap’s technology in Ireland.

They recently launched in the New Zealand market in conjunction with Alfco Farm Services to bring their herd management solutions to the New Zealand market.