A lot of other farmers often ask me: “how do you make AI work?”

Well, there are a lot of different things that go into making sure that I am able to rely on artificial insemination, and each one of them is as important as the other. But, if I were pushed to say what the most important thing is, I would have to say it’s heat detection.

Nothing else really matters if you cannot detect when a cow is in heat. I think this is the main reason more farmers do not use AI.

I have been using AI for a long time now and heat detection can sometimes be difficult. The one thing that really helps is being able to spend lots of time watching the cows. The more hours you can devote to it, the more likely you are to catch them in heat.

I now have three to four batches to watch for signs of heat

I used to have more time (or at least, it seems that way) and heat detection was never an issue. But as the farm has grown in size, it has become more difficult.

I now have three to four batches to watch for signs of heat and if they are all going to be observed properly, then I will not have much time to do anything else.

Heat collars

Last year I decided to try something different, with the aim of freeing-up some labour.

I got two Moocall heat collars. For anyone that does not know what these are, they are collars that you put on a teaser bull that work alongside a special tag into the cow’s ear.

A year down the line and I have to say that the system is excellent

The technology tracks the interaction between the cows and the teaser. When there is enough interaction and the cow stands to be mounted, you get a text to your mobile phone to tell you that the cow is in heat.

A year down the line and I have to say that the system is excellent, and has freed up a lot of time for me to spend doing other stuff. It is not the be all and end all of heat detection, but it is a useful tool and I am glad I have it.

50 cows

The manufacturers reckon that you can run one teaser (with a collar) with 50 cows.

Well this does not work here. Firstly, 50 cows in one field cannot happen in Fermanagh because the ground conditions will not allow it, and 50 cows are too many to be bringing into the yard to split out one or two for AI.

The collars are only as good as the teasers that you put them on

There is also an issue if you have a compact calving pattern. When there are three or four cows in heat, your teaser and collar will not detect them all, as he will have preferences and will not mount every cow.

The collars are only as good as the teasers that you put them on. Mine have missed some heats (especially when there are multiple cows in season), and sometimes the cow is a bully and will not let the teaser mount. Having said that the collars have detected a lot of heats that I would have missed.

I am trying to get my cows all bred in eight weeks

Most of the texts come through very early in the morning (before six). Thankfully, I am still tucked up in bed at that time.

Some of the cows are still showing signs when I get around to check them, but others are not and would have been missed. I am trying to get my cows all bred in eight weeks, so I have not got much scope for error.

Cost

I am definitely more than satisfied with the Moocall heat collars, but the price needs to come down a little to reflect the fact that not all farmers can spread the cost over 50 cows. In addition, the company should consider offering a decent discount for a second collar.

At the end of the day, it is about making it more economically viable for most farmers

Given that I only use my collars for eight weeks in the year, perhaps the manufacturer could come up with an option to hire a collar for a couple of months?

At the end of the day, it is about making it more economically viable for most farmers. But overall, I am very happy with the system, and if you are having trouble detecting heats, then it is a very useful tool to have and worth trying.

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