By integrating their herd improvement software and wearables they’ve streamlined their operations and unlocked new levels of efficiency, particularly during one of the busiest times of the year: mating season.
Last season, Kevin and Nicole used integrations between MINDA, CowManager®, and Protrack® to automatically draft cows on heat. This meant fewer hours spent manually checking and drafting, and one less person needed in the shed.
“As a result of this technology, we’ve extended our mating period to 11-weeks exclusively using AB, and saw a 7% increase in our six-week in-calf rate. Importantly, we also experienced less fatigue and stress during one of the busiest times on farm,” says Kevin.
"This integration not only saves time but also ensures accuracy, making the process more efficient and less labour-intensive.”
CowManager sharing data with MINDA records has been a game-changer for herd monitoring. With continuous updates on cow health and reproduction, it gives Kevin and Nicole real-time insights that would otherwise take hours of observation.
“This technology takes the pressure off staff to identify strong heats,” says Kevin. “It’s helping us bridge the gap with labour challenges, especially around heat detection.”
Jared Bekhuis, National Manager for CowManager says: "We’re thrilled by the progress in data sharing amongst the sector, it’s great to see farmers such as Kevin and Nicole reaping the benefits and seeing the true value of wearables, CowManager is proud to be one of the early integration partners of MINDA."
By automating processes and ensuring accurate data sharing, Kevin can focus on other jobs to be done. “It has changed farming for the better, in fact it makes it a hell of a lot easier”.
The Opperts are also utilising the MINDA integration with Farm Source. They see this helping with compliance and auditing by automatically updating records, reducing the need for manual paperwork and ensuring accurate data by keeping their MINDA records up to date.
Kevin explains, “Having our MINDA integrated with other tools we use is helping with compliance on farm and allows us to breeze through inspections with all information on hand. I don’t know how we ever used to be without it!”
Amongst the technology upgrades, the Opperts remain focused on balance. “We’re committed to maintaining strong animal interaction alongside technology,” says Kevin. “It’s about finding the sweet spot between efficiency and care.”
Always top of mind for Kevin and Nicole is their return on investment, while reducing labour and stress is a win, any new technology must be efficient and ultimately pay for itself.
With MINDA seamlessly data sharing with other farm technology, the return on investment was clear. The right data was available exactly when and where it was needed, turning insights into action and technology into tangible value.
Looking ahead, Kevin is keen to explore additional technologies that could further enhance farm operations, such as body condition and lameness cameras. The DairyNZ 2023 technology survey found drafting and mastitis detection to be high up in terms of farmer wish lists.
By leveraging new technologies on farm and utilising MINDA integrations, Kevin and Nicole have been able to streamline operations, improve accuracy, reduce stress, and change partnerships to collaborations or integrations.
Farmers don’t get out of bed to spend time in front of a computer screen. We have been working hard to build integrations with companies who farmers rely on to help them with the day-to-day.
"MINDA has 17 current integration partners with more to come stretching across multiple areas behind the farm gate – including wearables, financial reporting software and milk processors. Adoption of technology is likely to continue at a rapid pace as further farmer benefits are unlocked.
"LIC knows that there is big role for MINDA in supporting farmers to optimise the use of on-farm technology,” says Grant Kay, LIC Product Manager - MINDA Integrations.
