Thoughts from Our Farmer Conversations with Ryan Cobb
Hi - I’m Ryan Cobb, SomaDetect's Farm Sales Specialist. I joined SomaDetect in June 2017 as employee #2; at that time, we were learning how to install our sensor in the milking parlour and building our first models.
My job is to connect with dairy farmers, learn about their operations, and identify how our technology can help them achieve their unique business goals. Here are my top three takeaways from speaking with dairy farmers over the past month.
#1. Dairy Farmers Don't Have Enough SCC Data for Decision Making
Many farms approach us because they feel they don’t have enough reliable data on an individual cow’s SCC for decision making. I spoke with a dairy farmer in Texas who shared that he feels his regular milk sampling is not timely enough, and he questions the expense. For this farmer, if a cow receives two consecutive high SCC events from the milk test, she is added to the cull list. The farmer shared that with this protocol, he does not know what is happening between milk tests. He wonders:
Is her SCC staying high?
How much is she contributing to my bulk tank SCC?
Should I treat this cow?
How is her SCC responding to treatment?
Providing farms with per milking indication of SCC will lead to better decision making, allowing farmers to focus on the right cow and to make the decision for that animal.
#2. Pregnancy Loss Hurts
Finding a cow that is open around dry-off hurts. One Western New York farmer told me that if she finds an open cow after 300 DIM, the animal is removed from the farm. While the farm monitors for heats and does multiple pregnancy checks during the gestation period, some cows still fall through the cracks. This farmer calls these cows “ghost cows.” They are confirmed pregnant, and somewhere between 70 DCC and dry-off, the calf is aborted, and the farm never catches her coming back into heat.
With our reproduction model, each cow’s pregnancy is monitored, and the farmer is alerted if the cow is suspected of having experienced pregnancy loss.
#3. In-line Pregnancy Detection is Helpful
I have heard many farms have challenges with the status quo, including not being located close to a veterinarian practice, having cows in headlocks for an extended period waiting for their pregnancy check, and the associated labor and time constraints.
With our sensor system, we continuously monitor the reproductive status directly from each cow's milk. This passive in-line pregnancy check means we can reduce the amount of time spent on routine pregnancy confirmation. Our technology allows the farm to reduce the number of pregnancy checks by ultrasound or palpation during the gestation period, saving both time and labor and keeping the cows to their routine of feeding, laying down, and making milk.
As we continue to grow and head into the new year, I look forward to my continued conversations with farmers on how we can provide a solution that works for them. These conversations help us improve and deliver the data that farmers need most.