Sean Meehan returned to dairy farming this year and is currently milking 87 cows, with the hopes of increasing that to 120 cows over the next couple of years.
One major difference between when Co. Kilkenny man farmed back in the day and now, is the increased amount of technology available to farmers.
For example, when it comes to sorting cows, the methods used on Sean’s farm have changed.
“In my previous life, I’ve milked cows and I sorted them by tail painting and so on and observation,” said Sean.
Now however, he uses CowScout, collar technology that tells farmers exactly when their cows are ready for insemination, which he believes is “very easy to use”.
“With CowScout, I was a bit doubtful at the start, but over a period of time, I became totally dependent and reliant on it for heat detection,” Sean said.
“I find it invaluable.”
With CowScout, a sensor monitors cows’ movements 24/7. It then shares real-time data it picks up with farmers which includes, but is not limited to, heat detection.
“I find the information from CowScout very helpful,” Sean said.
CowScout also detects specific movement patterns related to forage intake, recording the time individual cows spend eating, which may indicate health problems.
“You can pick out a cow that is bulling, or cows that are cycling too often; overactive cows will show up on the list and cows that don’t that don’t cycle, that aren’t cycling at all. So you can treat them,” the farmer continued.
“Cow that is very sick will show up as an acute health warning and you can pick out that cow.
“I actually had one case this year of E. coli mastitis, it showed up as an acute health warning,” Sean said.
For more information on CowScout, click here, or to find your nearest CowScout dealer, click here.
