‘Fertility is profitability’ technology has transformed Armagh farm

David McCarragher milks 80 Holstein Friesian cows alongside wife Stacey, father Melvin, and brother Andrew on a holding that they took over at Tassagh, Co. Armagh.

David has been using SenseHub collars and drafting gate for four years and praises the reliability, ease of use, and the level of work they have cut out over the years.

“When we started milking on my dad’s farm, I bought both heifers and SenseHub collars before we were ever milking,” David said.

Fertility was, for me, the key to profitability so the collars were originally bought for heifers with AI in mind.

“But when we started milking, the collars proved a practical tool right from the word go. And given that we plan to increase our herd to 150 cows, we installed the SenseHub Drafting Gate too.

“We only realised the level of labour involved in separating cows after the drafting gate was put in. The gate automatically drafts cows that are in the heat or health reports on the SenseHub app.

“No need to enter cow numbers manually, it will send the list of cows to draft automatically. It’s a super piece of kit,” he added.

Tail paint vs tech

Prior to using SenseHub, David had been exclusively tail-painting heifers when it came to heat detection.

“You’ve got to be savvier when you’re tail-painting. Constantly watching and then separating cows out daily. It was a bigger workload than we thought,” the Armagh farmer said.

“SenseHub looks after all of that for you. It saves time, which means I’m saving money. It’s delivering nearly 100% accuracy and is well and truly doing the business.”

“Both man and beast are more content as there is no stress separating cows with the system,” McCarragher said.

“It’s very self-explanatory and accessible for whoever is using it,” David said, regarding the app.

“When it’s time to AI a cow, the system lets you know straight away. So, when any cow is in heat, a farmer receives an alert on the SenseHub App. These animals are then presented in the ‘animals in heat’ list,” the Armagh farmer added.

The cow goes into the ‘animals in heat’ list once she hits her peak heat, from then the farmer is shown the most optimum time to inseminate the cow within a 30-hour window.

There are both conventional and sexed semen timing windows too, which are very easy to follow.

Using the system for pre-breeding

SenseHub has a variety of reports that are helpful for farmers, including those that are helpful for pre-breeding such as ‘the anestrus report’ and ‘irregular heat report’.

These reports detect animals that aren’t cycling or have irregular heats respectively since calving.

“The pre-breeding reports are a super tool. I’ve had the vet out in late March previously to work through these two lists,” David said.

“The benefit is we’re correcting a targeted group of problem cows to get them ready for breeding and secondly, I’m not wasting time with cows in the crush that don’t have any issues.

“They’re better off out on grass putting milk in the tank for me instead of standing in a crush for no reason,” the farmer added.

Installing the SenseHub Drafting Gate brought an end to “a lot of running around” after the herd for David and his family.

“As I was saying, the drafting gate means there’s less stress for both man and beast, and that’s the long and the short of it,” David said.

“It’s 100% accurate and that was another huge factor in having it installed given the improvements it has led to in terms of drafting, sorting, and inspecting. In terms of money well spent, it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.”

“It’s testament to the reliability of both the SenseHub collar and drafting gate that I’ve rarely had to call John for support,” David added.

“But don’t get me wrong, it’s great to know that support is only ever a phone call or free call out away.

“It’s easy to use and has been a game changer on my farm. I’m amazed at the accuracy of the system not only detecting heat but also health issues. It’s been both labour-saving and time-saving tool, which also helped to boost my profitability.

“It has kept our calving pattern tighter and helped to transform the way I farm. You’re missing a trick not getting in touch with the lads in MSD about SenseHub,” the Armagh farmer concluded.