Technology has helped improve milk production, reproduction, and made managing cows at our farm easier. Parlor identification, milk meters, and automated activity monitoring are all tied together to give us up-to-date and accurate information on how our cows are performing.
All of this technology is awesome, but at times I have noticed employees becoming less observant because of it. I will see a cow in standing heat with an employee nearby not getting her ID number. I asked “Did you see that cow in heat?” Their reply is, “No” or “I think that is the same cow I saw earlier today.”
Low and high activity monitoring is a great tool on the farm, but it does not replace good old-fashion observation. Be sure employees are watching cows as they walk by them. Quiz them occasionally on whether they saw cows that looked abnormal, lethargic, or saw cows actively showing heats.
Remember, the best computer on the farm is the human mind. With our mind, we are capable of connecting all of the information from human observation and combining it with the technology we use on the farm everyday.
Mark and Caitlin Rodgers are dairy farmers in Dearing, Georgia. Their “Father and Daughter Dairy Together” column appears every other Thursday on HD Notebook. The Rodgers have a 400-cow dairy that averages 32,000 pounds of milk. Follow their family farm on Facebook at Hillcrest Farms Inc.
