“It’s easily saved me half a labour unit in spring”, says Larry Summers, who milks 140 cows in Co. Wexford.

Up the road in Co. Wicklow, Lorcan Byrne milks 170 cows, runs a piggery, and has four GAA-mad kids.

Lorcan said: “I can get out to matches and training with the kids, and I know the collars are watching the cows. The info is all there on the phone when I get back.”

In Meath, Neil Burke has seen a clear labour reduction:

“We always needed two people in the parlour during breeding, one to milk and one to draft and tail paint. Since we put in the system, one person can milk on their own.”

What do these farms have in common?

They all use Censortec.

Censortec, powered by Nedap, is Ireland’s most reliable cow monitoring system. With an established understanding of Irish farmers’ requirements, Censortec provides world-leading technology with unparalleled support.

At this year’s National Ploughing Championships, visit Stand 166, where the team will be showcasing many new developments.

According to Donagh Crowley of Censortec: “It’s been a busy year for us.

“We have launched Censortec in New Zealand, and we have some new developments at home as well.”

These include:

SmartSight: artificial intelligence (AI)-powered locomotion monitoring
SmartTag Ear: A new compact sensor option
A new colour for the flagship SmartTag Neck

SmartSight Locomotion Monitoring

SmartSight is an AI-powered locomotion monitoring tool that helps farmers tackle lameness. Teagasc estimates that lameness can cost anywhere from €4,800 to just over €14,000 in a 100-cow herd, depending on the prevalence of common foot issues.

Censortec’s Sean Crowley said: “We’ve developed SmartSight Locomotion Monitoring in conjunction with Nedap.

“It’s very exciting tech, because it uses AI, and a camera mounted on a drafting gate to monitor cows. SmartSight then analyses the data and gives farmers actionable lameness alerts.

“We’re really looking forward to showing SmartSight in this year’s Innovation Arena too.”

Joe O’Grady, who farms in partnership with Tom Burgess in Co Wicklow, has been using the technology for two years as part of its development.

Joe said: “When we installed SmartSight, we were impressed by the fact that it picked up cows that we wouldn’t have classed as lame.

“You’d see them walking in the yard and think they’re ok, but when you go to lift their feet, we always found something, be it a stone or a scald or something else.

According to the farmer, those cases were “easy to treat and easy to solve”.

“You can watch their recovery on the SmartSight app,” Joe said.

“It’s creating better outcomes for us, because it’s saving labour, and better outcomes for the cows, because they’re treated earlier.”

SmartTag Ear

Also on display at the Ploughing for the first time is SmartTag Ear – a sensor that offers Censortec’s trusted monitoring technology in a compact ear tag.

After several years of trials on Irish farms, SmartTag Ear is now available to the broader market.

In the same way as SmartTag Neck, SmartTag Ear captures insights on

Reproduction
Rumination
Eating times
Active levels

It is removable and reusable, allowing it to be swapped between different animals, and it can store up to 24 hours of data independently.

SmartTag Ear is built on a long-lasting, proven infrastructure used for other Nedap sensors, ensuring the reliability of data transmission.

Censortec’s Padraig Kelly: “SmartTag Ear has a 98% retention rate in the ear on farms using it globally.

“It has a minimum of seven-year battery life as well, so it gives farmers another option when choosing the most suitable sensor for their system.”

With new products, a rebrand, and international expansion well underway, Censortec continues to lead the way in smart farming solutions.

As the company grows, its focus remains firmly on helping improve life on the farm, for both cows and farmers.

To learn more about Censortec’s latest technologies, visit Stand 166 at this year’s National Ploughing Championships, where the team will be on hand to demonstrate SmartTag Neck, SmartTag Ear, and SmartSight in action. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the future of cow monitoring up close.

Maurice Kelly

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