Tech makes the job easier

Ross Anderson has never been afraid to embrace technology to create efficiencies on his family’s Denison dairy farm.

A former builder, Ross has been home on the family farm for 20 years and while his parents, Graeme and Chris, have now mostly retired, they weren’t afraid to embrace technology either.

“Mum and Dad were never scared to try something new, and they were always early adaptors of technology,” Ross said.

“We believe tech creates freedom and gives us time to spend with the kids; after all, they are only kids for so long."

Ross and his wife, Jenni Collings, were the first Victorian dairy business to install virtual fencing on their 500-cow herd and the couple cannot stop singing its praises.

“We started with the Halter collars on February 17 this year and it has changed the way we farm,” Ross said.

Ross said the cows were trained by vibrations and noises from a cue from the collar, which had enabled the couple to better manage the herd and reduce labour.

“We can divide our paddock into as many breaks as we like and adjust them as we go, giving the cows more grass if required,” Ross said.

“We also don’t have to go down and physically bring the cows to the shed anymore — we can set a signal to bring them up.

“For example we could program the collars to bring the cows up to the feedpad at 3am in the morning and we can wake up and they will all be there eating ready for milking.

“We can split cows into different herds and send one herd in one direction and one in another.

“The cows are quiet and calm and they have learnt very quickly.”

Ross said while the team members were still learning the technology themselves — how to capture and read data — they had found it amazing and nothing to be afraid of.

“Data goes into an app which ultimately produces graphs which we can use to monitor or compare the cows — there is lots of data and we are learning how to understand it all.

“Our staff are really good with the data too and the nutritionist can also access cow information.”

The collars stay on the cows for their lifetime.

Ross said the collars saved a couple of hours a day just in bringing cows up for milking and taking them back to the paddock after.

Another benefit is they have been able to do away with staff riding around on four-wheelers, which is a safety improvement.

Ross said he had also put the collars on 125 of his heifers.

“The collars are telling me which heifers are on heat by a pulsating light that is really easy to see. I have found the heifers are calmer and quieter because there are no dogs and no motorbikes,” he said.

“This technology is really cool and I am looking forward to more farmers having it and I am sure as time progresses, there will be more and more things the collars will be able to do.

“Halter have been a brilliant company to deal with.”

Ross supplies Bulla, and their opening price is the same as the previous season.

“For us there are two things we can't control, milk price and water in storage,” he said.

“We are in the Macalister Irrigation District and nine out of 10 years we have green grass and so far this has been a brilliant season for us. We have just been allocated 70 per cent of our irrigation water for this season and that plus an okay milk price gives us a good start.”