Farmer Focus: Activity monitor helps lift pregnancy rate

Fieldwork is far from our minds with the ground being so wet. As is often the case, I imagine everything will be squeezed into a tiny work window.

The ice-cream business has started recruiting ready to reopen at Easter. Anna has designed this year’s maize maze but, as we can’t travel with a quad bike, never mind a tractor, we won’t worry about that yet.

The cows are still performing very well, although we have lost a little milk quality after moving from first to third cut.

See also: How a new transition shed helped lift pregnancy rates to 35%

About the author

Tom Stable

Tom Stable and family, Ulverston, Cumbria, milk 350 Holsteins three times a day, producing milk for Arla and ice cream for their Cumbrian Cow brand. The 300ha operation, of which two thirds is rented, grows grass, maize and winter wheat and cows average 11,800 litres.

Read more articles by Tom Stable

At the turn of each year, Arla adjusts the fat-to-protein payment ratio. It has moved more of our milk price towards fat for 2024, so I have added the protected fat C16 back into the ration.

We will keep a close eye on things to make sure this is returning a margin.

The cows are ticking along nicely, hitting our targets for fertility and mastitis while suffering from very few transition issues.

We installed CowManager in 2021, the first activity monitor-type technology we have ever had, and it has made a massive difference.

We thought we were good at spotting heats but, as numbers increased, it became more difficult.

The tags have lifted pregnancy rate from about 22% to 28%, while also reducing the amount of synchronisation programmes we run.

Early diagnosis of sick cows has made a real difference too. The data have allowed us to iron out some issues to improve overall herd health.

In March, I will retire from the Lancashire Holstein club executive committee, which I have been a member of for nearly 10 years.

The annual stock-judging nights were one of the things that sparked my interest in cows when I was young, and I met my wife, Anna, at a Holstein young breeders’ event, so I owe the club quite a bit.

The value of being pedigree has undoubtably reduced from its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, but with ever-dwindling numbers in our industry, anything that brings us together is a positive.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the committee, especially my time as chairman and president in 2020-2022, a process I was guided through brilliantly by Sheila Robinson MBE.