Cows don’t always show clinical signs that they are ill. But with sensor technology these cows are spotted early, to give them the attention they need. The innovative IDA technology is doing just that and is now available for US dairy farmers.
Meet IDA, the first intelligent dairy assistant, that can spot sick cows up to 2-3 days before they show clinical signs. As a farmer, you don’t always see if a cow is not eating well or ruminating enough per day. And maybe she is lying down less than usual during the nighttime and at times you are not in the barn. On a dairy farm, it is simply hard to keep an eye on every cow all the time.
Unique set of farm data combined
A sudden drop in rumination time and feed intake or reduced lying time can mean there is something wrong with the animal. By using a sensor on the neck of the cow, IDA can measure seven behavioral patterns. By connecting the unique set of behavioral data with the data coming from farm management systems, IDA creates actionable, accurate insights on fertility, health, feed and operational issues, shown in a user-friendly mobile app.
Truly unique of IDA is that also the farmer’s insights and feedback, along with third-party data like weather, genomics and feed are integrated. IDA uses Artificial Intelligence models to turn all of these data sources in unique insights for the farmer. No other system in the market is doing this. Farmers who have been using IDA have shown impressive increases in heat detection rate, pregnancy rates and the detection of metabolic issues. A scientific field study with IDA showed that using the sensors can decrease the use of antibiotics by 50%, simply because sick cows are spotted earlier, resulting in less treatment days.
Farmers can also track operational changes with IDA. Think of measuring the effect of changes in the diet or the effect of a foot bath on rumination behavior, feed intake or lying time. This type of data can hence be shared with the feed advisor or veterinarian.
Challenges for US dairy farmers
Uncontrollable milk prices and lack of skilled labor are just some of the challenges seen in the US dairy industry. Although most US dairy farmers still have Timed AI protocols and certain antibiotics at hand, dairy farmers have to find new ways to manage their business as some of these protocols and product uses may not be acceptable in the future. More focus will be put on animal welfare and sustainability and the use of technology like IDA can help farmers make this transition. This is not by providing more data or dashboards that a farmer has to analyze. It is all about accurate, easy and actionable advices to run a better farm. IDA is the simplest technology out there and is based on a subscription model. This makes it the best and easiest farmer’s assistant.
So have you met IDA yet? Get to know IDA and how she can help boost animal health and farm performance. Contact Julie Larson, US Regional Sales Director, directly at juliel@connecterra.io for more information on IDA for US farmers.
