Veterinarian unlocks cow collar potential
WHEN the Veterinary Centre declared it would be researching cow collars and the application of the technology they offer for local farmers they even surprised themselves with how quickly their work has progressed.
Ryan Luckman, veterinarian and Waimate based partner, recently impressed an audience of Canterbury dairy farmers with a summary to date of his work with local farms who use collar technology to improve their business success. Ryan was a guest speaker at the Allflex event and his presentation was the highlight of the evening. Pauline Calvert, the New Zealand CEO of parent company MSD Animal Health commented “North Otago and South
Canterbury were fortunate to have a veterinarian of Ryan’s calibre who had both the ability to interpret the information that the collars provided and then connect it to the many aspects of animal health. What makes Ryan’s work so valuable is the ability to relate it to decisions and practices on the management of the herd.”
Ryan Luckman has been working with local farmers to explore the multiple advantages this technology can offer. The expertise being developed is aimed at enhancing production for dairy farms and will apply to a range of electronic collar or tag technology.
The obvious benefits of cow collars is the accurate detection linked to autodrafting, giving improved repro performance, significant savings in staff and tailpaint, and the freeing up of management and personal time. However Ryan’s trialwork looks past these proven benefits and is based around 3 key areas:
The transition period for cows and their recovery after calving — specifically, what has been learnt about improving rumination rates.
Early detection of sick cows in Spring. What can be seen in the collar information and what treatments are working?
Mating — how can collars be used to maximise the benefits of sexed semen; plus HeatCHECK — what can the collars teach us about mating on traditional farms?
The good news for local dairy farmers is Ryan will be presenting at the Veterinary Centre
Winter Dairy seminars on May 6th. The seminars are expected to attract significant interest from both within and outside the district. Whilst Ryan has enjoyed working and presenting to a wider audience he said the primary driver of his trialwork was how it could benefit the local farmers and clients he worked with on a daily basis. The Allflex team will also be represented at the events and look forward to talking to farmers and answering questions.
VETERINARY CENTRE WINTER DAIRY SEMINARS — Thursday May 6
Waimate Event Centre, 2.30pm. Oamaru, Lower Waitaki Golf Club, 7pm.
SPEAKERS 1. Ryan Luckman
“Allflex Cow Collars — Unlocking the wider animal health potential”. What we’ve learnt, and how it can be applied across noncollar farms.
Hamish Newton —
Calf Faecal Egg counts post routine drenching — Are our drenches working?
Mat O’Sullivan — Body Condition Scores at calving and mating — A case study.