On a busy south Wexford dairy farm, where no two days are the same, finding ways to work smarter has become just as important as working hard.

Liam Rotchford, who farms alongside his mother Mary and his uncle John in south Co. Wexford, is now the sixth generation to take over the running of his family farm.

The farm is milking 152 cows, on a grass-based system, along with a calf-to-beef and tillage enterprise.

It is a farm with a lot going on. And that’s exactly why, six years ago, Liam made a decision that has streamlined operations - he installed SenseHub Behaviour Monitoring Technology.

Two years later, he went a step further and added the SenseHub Drafting Gate.

Between the two, he has cut labour, eliminated unnecessary stress - on himself and on his cows - and seen steady, consistent improvements in his breeding performance.

Liam explained: "The main motivation for putting the collars in was around breeding and to ease the workload, but it has also been a great benefit in terms of animal health.

“The drafting gate was [installed] to streamline the whole breeding [process], and draft out cows whenever you want with no stress.”

Knowing which cows are in heat - before leaving the house

Ask any dairy farmer what keeps them up at night during the breeding season and missed heats will feature near the top of the list.

Identifying the right cow at the right time, particularly when you’re running a busy farm, is one of the most time-pressured tasks of the farming year.

SenseHub has changed that completely for Liam.

The SenseHub collar continuously monitors each cow delivering actionable insights in real time to the SenseHub app.

The app is then connected to the drafting date, closing the loop from detection to action, automatically.

Liam said: “Day to day, as I’m bringing the cows in for morning milking, I’ll check the SenseHub app and see what animals are in heat.

"The sorting scheduler is on the app, and I can sort all cows that are in heat, or select the ones I want to breed in the morning or evening.”

The sorting scheduler in the SenseHub app allows Liam to schedule animals for drafting whether he’s on or off the farm.

As Liam puts it, it means he’s no longer “under pressure to make it back to the farm".

Ending the daily battle at the parlour gate

Before SenseHub, drafting cows manually after milking - watching the exit, identifying the right animal, trying to hold her back before she disappears into the herd - was not an easy task for Liam.

"We did have a simple gate on a pulley. It took a lot of work watching cows come out of the parlour and identifying them in the parlour.

"The drafting gate is great that way, when you leave the parlour after milking, the cows are there waiting for you," he said.

The cows are waiting for you - not the other way around.

The SenseHub Drafting Gate integrates directly with the app, meaning Liam simply selects which animals he needs - whether for breeding, a health check or the hoof trimmer - and the gate sorts them automatically as they exit the parlour.

The group drafting function has become one of Liam’s most-used features, particularly during the busy times of the year.

“If you have the hoof trimmer coming, you can type in the cow numbers and draft them all out, or at pre-breeding, any cows not showing signs of heat, any anoestrous cows, you put them in a group and schedule a draft," he explained.

For a busy farm like Liam’s, that kind of flexibility is a necessity.

Setting a draft the night before and knowing the gate will do the work gives him one less job to think about the next day.

Better performance, less work, and no regrets

The results have been gradual but consistent.

Since installing SenseHub, Liam has seen year-on-year improvements in breeding performance - achieved with a fraction of the time and effort the job once demanded.

He explained: “We’ve definitely seen an improvement in our breeding since we installed SenseHub.

"Our breeding performance has improved gradually over the years.

For farmers unsure about what’s involved, Liam says installation is simpler than many expect.

Most yards can accommodate a drafting gate with minimal modification, and the setup is straightforward.

“A drafting gate suits all yards. Most of them are three-way drafting gates, so you can find an avenue in your yard to fit one in, and they’re very easy to install.”

And once it’s in, it delivers from day one.

“Very easy to use, it’s all on the app, which is great," the Wexford farmer said.

Six years on from that first installation, Liam’s verdict is simple - the kind of endorsement that only comes from someone who has experienced the difference SenseHub brings.

“For anyone thinking of installing collars or a drafting gate, they definitely won’t regret it.

"It’s been a really, really positive decision here on our farm. It’s streamlined the whole thing, and it’s a major labour saving," he said.