The Farmers Mart Aug-Sep 2018 - Issue 58 | Page 45

CATTLE 45
• AUG/SEP 2018
NEW CALF GROWTH APP
AND WEBSITE FROM VOLAC
CATTLE youngstock rearers now
have a quick and easy way of re-
cording and monitoring individual
calf growth rates against pre-set
targets, thanks to the availability
of a new smartphone App from
Volac.
Launched as a free tool availa-
ble as a download from the com-
pany’s refreshed ‘Feed for Growth’
website, the new calf growth App
is one of an innovative range of
practical resources available from
Volac to help farmers grow better
cows.
“Our new ‘Feed for Growth’ App
is designed to help farmers work-
ing with youngstock to simplify
the process of assessing whether
individual animals are on track to
meet key performance targets,”
says Product Manager Samantha
Sampson.
Allflex introduces SenseTimeTM
ALLFLEX has launched Sen-
seTime Beef – a unique heat
detection and health monitoring
system designed specifically for
beef cattle.
SenseTime Beef uses well estab-
lished and proven technology to
measure two main performance
indicators in beef cows – activity
and rumination – to help farmers
identify when individual cows are
in heat and to provide early warn-
ing alerts for health conditions
which could affect productivity
and performance.
SenseTime Beef is suitable for
herds using AI or natural breeding
programmes and can be ac-
cessed via a desktop computer,
smartphone, tablet or dedicated
SenseTime Panel. It uses the same
tried and tested hardware as the
dairy version of SenseTime, with
a choice of neck collars or ear
tags.
The new system has been test-
ed widely across the world and in
the UK on a variety of beef cattle
breeds including Aberdeen Angus,
Simmental, Akaushi, Belgian Blue,
Piemontese and Charolais.
The system also highlights the
optimum time to use the bull or
when to inseminate beef cows,
with the ensuing heat and preg-
nancy records providing a useful
indication of the bull’s fertility per-
formance. SenseTime Beef also
draws attention to non-cycling
or anoestrus cows, enabling herd
managers to take proactive steps
to reduce the number of ‘empty’
cows within the herd.
The SenseTime Beef system is
easy to upgrade and upscale as
herds expand: each control box
acts as its own data server and
antenna which can communicate
with up to 1,000 tags. For each
additional 1,000 animals, upscal-
ing the system is simply a case
of adding an extra plug-and-play
control box.
“Once you have registered on
the new www.feedforgrowth.com
website and keyed in your growth
‘roadmap’ target data (i.e. calf
birthweight; weaning weight; age
at weaning; mature bodyweight;
and desired age at first calving),
simply download the App and get
started. The App allows you to set
up different holdings and record a
calf’s unique ear tag number. You
then simply record an individual
calf’s weight as it develops and
instantly see if it is on track against
your pre-set roadmap graph,
allowing you to make changes to
its feeding programme as neces-
sary.
“Herds can be congregated
into coloured groups to help you
keep track of different batches
of calves. What’s more, each calf
record contains useful areas for
logging adversities and any notes;
about its health, for example. The
App has been created for farmers
to do better by their cows and
users can be confident that their
data remains confidential – and is
not visible, collected or used by
anybody,” Ms Sampson says.
Volac has also refreshed its
‘Feed for Growth’ website, which
contains a host of practical
advice, help and resources to
help farmers understand exactly
what the calf needs, how to
put an efficient growth plan
together, and how to simply and
effectively measure and moni-
tor performance. The site also
holds a range of downloadable
calf rearing guides, a calf feeding
calculator and the contact de-
tails of the local Volac business
managers.
‘ users can be
confident that
their data remains
confidential
’
Calf rearers visiting the Volac stand
at UK Dairy Day on 12th September
can ask for a demonstration of the
new calf growth App and claim a
free calf weigh tape at the same
time. Alternatively visit: www.
feedforgrowth.com for more
information.