CowManager new nutrition module identifies cows at risk weeks prior to calving and gives insights into feed and transition.
In November 2020, CowManager® launched a new Nutrition module that provides actionable insights regarding feed and transition management on dairy farms. The module has been expanded with clear graphs and user-friendly comparison functionality. Timely notifications regarding cows at risk during the transition period, heat stress, low feed intake, and herd health help to focus a producer’s attention where it is needed most. These notifications allow the producer to approach herd management in a preventive, proactive, and precise manner, resulting in better cow health and a more productive herd.
Koen van Meurs, Head of R&D at CowManager, said, “Nutrition is of great importance to a cows’ performance. It also accounts for the largest portion of the variable costs on farms. Having the right insights to make data-driven decisions about feed and transition management are key to successful and profitable farming. Machine learning technology helped us to create exactly these insights based on the behavior and temperature data we collected from millions of cows worldwide.”
Global customer panel
The Nutrition module was designed with the help of dairy producers and nutritionists in CowManager’s global customer panel. Wilfried Reuvekamp, member of the customer panel and owner of Hilltop Dairy (USA) said, “The insights provided by the Nutrition module encouraged me to implement management changes, which led to a sustained dry matter intake of 38 pounds for our close-up cows. This has already contributed strongly to healthier fresh cows and higher peak milk production. I believe in a few months we will hit the 95-pound milk production mark.”
Working preventively
The transition period is the primary risk period where 75 percent of all adult cow disease events occur. In the past, producers could only dream of cows at risk being identified days or weeks before they
became sick. Today this has become reality. Dry cows with decreased eating and rumination behavior will be flagged as being at risk of becoming sick after calving. Early intervention prevents losses and results in a healthier herd. All alerts within the Nutrition module are designed to foster preventive management practices.
Optimized feed management
The Nutrition module consists of various easy-to-read graphs offering full insight into the eating, rumination, and activity of each group of cows. The comparison functionality makes it easy to compare certain groups or time frames with each other, allowing the producer and nutritionist to evaluate the impact of ration changes and feed management in a fact-based and quick manner. Access to valuable herd data can be granted to trusted advisors through the MultiView function. The Nutrition module provides producers with the tools to take feed and transition management to the next level. More control and full insights will help producers achieve the goals they have set for their herds with better pregnancy rates, an overall healthier herd, lower feed costs and more milk per cow.
About CowManager
Thousands of farmers in over 40 countries already rely on CowManager’s user-friendly ear sensor technology, to help manage their herds. CowManager monitors each cow 24/7, it is an extra pair of eyes on the herd. This valuable management tool shows real-time alerts via easy-to-read and colored hourly behavior graphs on your smartphone or desktop computer. CowManager monitors health, fertility, nutrition, and location, with impressive accuracy.
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