A Limerick dairy farmer and his wife have designed a new fertility management tool that you can use on any mobile phone.
You text the tag number of a cow to HerdAlerts when she is observed in heat, and then receive a text message reminder back to your phone 19 days later alerting you that the cow is due in heat again.
From the first recorded cycle date, a text reminder of the next four heat cycles due for that animal will be sent automatically to your phone. If the animal breaks the cycle, you re-text the tag number to restart the new cycle. It alerts the farmer of the cows in the herd due to come into heat, cows with irregular heats or those not cycling at all. In addition, records of heat cycles and dates of reminders are available to observe online.
I asked company director and dairy farmer Chris Geary for some answers about HerdAlerts.
Do you need a smartphone to work this tool?
No. You can use this service on any mobile phone.
Why did you decide to invent and invest in HerdAlerts?
Fertility is crucially important to spring calving dairy farmers and research shows each missed heat during the breeding season can cost €250 for a dairy farmer and €55 for a suckler farmer, so it is essential the farmer is well prepared. We know that over 50% of the farming community are over 55 years of age and are not on computers during the day. We also know some 32% of all individuals have smartphones, so we wanted a management tool that could work on all phones.
So is this a phone app?
No, it’s more than an app. It’s accessible from any phone and it’s backed up with a website and herd data storage. We like to say it’s a fertility management tool on your phone.
How do HerdAlerts know what cows you have in your herd?
There are two options. Option 1: The farmer grants permission for HerdAlerts to download herd tag numbers from the Department of Agriculture. Once registered, the farmer texts in the last five digits of the tag number when the cow is in heat. HerdAlerts records the tag number on the date it is received and reminder texts are sent when the cow is due to cycle. This is the most efficient system, as tag numbers of cows that have not come in heat are available on-line. Option 2: The farmer registers with HerdAlerts and texts in a five-digit tag number/freeze brand (ie 00088) when the cow is in heat. HerdAlerts records the number on the date it is received and reminder texts are sent when the cow is due to cycle. The tag numbers of cows that have not come in heat are not available online with this option.
Some cows will not cycle for 23 or 24 days after observed heat – will the farmer only get a reminder text after 19 days?
Yes, after 19 days, but this can be changed, and it’s up to the farmer then to observe that cow carefully and present that cow for AI when she shows signs of heat. Ideally, a farmer would use this in the four weeks before the start of the breeding season.
What happens if you record 15 cows bulling on the same day?
In 19 days, you will get three text messages and each text will have the tag numbers for five cows.
What happens to my breeding records if I break or lose my mobile phone?
There’s no problem – all the information is stored and available from the website, so you simply have to replace your phone and continue what you were doing.
Essentially this is a tool that allows you to build a record of bulling dates?
Yes, but it also sends you text reminders of cows that are due in heat so you can be prepared and the information comes to your phone, which you will have with you.
How do I find out more?
Visit HerdAlerts.com or contact us in Feenagh, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, on (063) 24000.
What is the cost?
It costs €60 (inc VAT) per herd per year plus €1 per cow in your herd for registration (eg a farmer with a herd size of 100 cows would pay €160 per year for registration).
Chris and Anne Geary are farming near Kilmallock in Limerick. Chris is a former IT service engineer, but is now dairy farming full-time while Anne lectures in economics.
A Limerick dairy farmer and his wife have designed a new fertility management tool that you can use on any mobile phone.
You text the tag number of a cow to HerdAlerts when she is observed in heat, and then receive a text message reminder back to your phone 19 days later alerting you that the cow is due in heat again.
From the first recorded cycle date, a text reminder of the next four heat cycles due for that animal will be sent automatically to your phone. If the animal breaks the cycle, you re-text the tag number to restart the new cycle. It alerts the farmer of the cows in the herd due to come into heat, cows with irregular heats or those not cycling at all. In addition, records of heat cycles and dates of reminders are available to observe online.
I asked company director and dairy farmer Chris Geary for some answers about HerdAlerts.
Do you need a smartphone to work this tool?
No. You can use this service on any mobile phone.
Why did you decide to invent and invest in HerdAlerts?
Fertility is crucially important to spring calving dairy farmers and research shows each missed heat during the breeding season can cost €250 for a dairy farmer and €55 for a suckler farmer, so it is essential the farmer is well prepared. We know that over 50% of the farming community are over 55 years of age and are not on computers during the day. We also know some 32% of all individuals have smartphones, so we wanted a management tool that could work on all phones.
So is this a phone app?
No, it’s more than an app. It’s accessible from any phone and it’s backed up with a website and herd data storage. We like to say it’s a fertility management tool on your phone.
How do HerdAlerts know what cows you have in your herd?
There are two options. Option 1: The farmer grants permission for HerdAlerts to download herd tag numbers from the Department of Agriculture. Once registered, the farmer texts in the last five digits of the tag number when the cow is in heat. HerdAlerts records the tag number on the date it is received and reminder texts are sent when the cow is due to cycle. This is the most efficient system, as tag numbers of cows that have not come in heat are available on-line. Option 2: The farmer registers with HerdAlerts and texts in a five-digit tag number/freeze brand (ie 00088) when the cow is in heat. HerdAlerts records the number on the date it is received and reminder texts are sent when the cow is due to cycle. The tag numbers of cows that have not come in heat are not available online with this option.
Some cows will not cycle for 23 or 24 days after observed heat – will the farmer only get a reminder text after 19 days?
Yes, after 19 days, but this can be changed, and it’s up to the farmer then to observe that cow carefully and present that cow for AI when she shows signs of heat. Ideally, a farmer would use this in the four weeks before the start of the breeding season.
What happens if you record 15 cows bulling on the same day?
In 19 days, you will get three text messages and each text will have the tag numbers for five cows.
What happens to my breeding records if I break or lose my mobile phone?
There’s no problem – all the information is stored and available from the website, so you simply have to replace your phone and continue what you were doing.
Essentially this is a tool that allows you to build a record of bulling dates?
Yes, but it also sends you text reminders of cows that are due in heat so you can be prepared and the information comes to your phone, which you will have with you.
How do I find out more?
Visit HerdAlerts.com or contact us in Feenagh, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, on (063) 24000.
What is the cost?
It costs €60 (inc VAT) per herd per year plus €1 per cow in your herd for registration (eg a farmer with a herd size of 100 cows would pay €160 per year for registration).
Chris and Anne Geary are farming near Kilmallock in Limerick. Chris is a former IT service engineer, but is now dairy farming full-time while Anne lectures in economics. 
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