February 2021 January 2021
The POINT “Installing CowManager has a snowball effect. When the cows are working well, we don’t have to raise as many replacements, which saves money in other places. It all adds up.” Rusty and Rachel Kummer, Mondovi, Wis.
Labor’s hard to find and synchronization is a hassle
Reproduction Originally using a walk and chalk breeding program, Triple Row Dairy transitioned to timed A.I., but Rachel wasn’t satisfied. “We didn’t like the amount of labor it took or giving all those shots,” said Rachel. “We don’t have headlocks so there is no good way to sort cows, which means we do
Since installing CowManager the herd’s DIM window has tightened up considerably. Today every cow is bred (up to three times, if needed), before 200 DIM. This has a big impact on keeping DIM low and production high. “In the past our days in milk would get really long,” said Rachel. “I’d try to give cows excuses to stay in the
27%
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20% 20
17%
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5
2 years using CowManager
To ensure every cow is bred by 100 days in milk (DIM), a PreSynch program is initiated at 45 days with cows that are not showing activity. Cows that respond to the second PreSynch shot are identified by CowManager and bred on standing heat. Cows that do not respond to PreSynch are enrolled in OvSynch.
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OvSync
Two and a half years later, the Mondovi, Wisconsin dairy has seen measurable improvements in the herd’s reproduction and health, which has had a snowball effect on labor and profitability.
the work in the parlor, which really slows things down.” With CowManager installed Rachel said, “we’ve significantly reduced the number of shots we give. Instead of giving 20, we might only give three, saving us time and money. The majority of cows are now bred based on activity.”
Walk & Chalk
hree years ago, Rachel and Rusty Kummer purchased their 250-cow dairy from Rachel’s dad, naturally leaving the same amount of work with fewer hands to get it done. That, along with a need to improve the herd’s reproduction led to investigating electronic herd monitoring systems. In June 2018, CowManager® was installed.
Pregnancy Rate (%)
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December 2017
May 2018
Current
herd. With CowManager we’ve cleaned that area up because another more profitable cow is ready to take the spot of one that won’t breed back.” Continued on page 2.