What started as a small trial in 2018 has become a core part of Trinity Farms’ management program providing labor savings and improved conception.
Located in Ellensburg, Wash., Trinity Farms is a multigenerational SimAngus/Angus seedstock operation specializing in selling bulls to commercial cow-calf producers across the Pacific Northwest.
Robb Forman, owner, says his family started with the SenseHub system in 2018. They got aggressive with it a couple of years ago when Merck came out with the new tags and new algorithm.
“We are much more successful in getting cows pregnant,” Forman says. “Conception rates and our preg rates prove that.”
The Formans previously used a synchronization system and timed AI. Today, using SenseHub, they are beating those results by as much as 15 to 20% in given groups.
“That’s not in every situation, but it’s significant,” he says. “We’ve cut out the labor of all that synchronization work, and we were doing so much hormonal manipulation that the cows that weren’t getting bred for another cycle. But the biggest thing I keep coming back to is once you’ve used this thing long enough and you start to trust in it enough, I mean, it’s the best damn heat detector you’ll ever have, and it never, doesn’t show up for work unless the power’s off.”
A Full-Time Employee
Forman says for the last two years he has bred exclusively off the system alone, treating it like a full-time, highly skilled employee. This means they do not visually heat check cattle.
“The system is like having an employee on the clock 24/7,” he stresses. “A really experienced employee as it relates to heat detecting. I can’t tell you how many man-hours it’s replaced.”
SenseHub Cow Calf has allowed Trinity Farms to:
- Replace most synchronization and mass timed AI work.
- Improve conception and pregnancy rates compared with timed AI.
- Run an aggressive AI and sexed semen program with less labor, even during the darkest part of the year.
What is SenseHub Cow Calf?
SenseHub Cow Calf from Merck Animal Health is an app-based monitoring system using ear tags with accelerometers to track the reproductive, health and nutritional status. It provides real-time alerts for heat detection and health issues to improve herd productivity.
According to Mallory Bormann-Liss, Merck Animal Health beef monitoring customer success specialist, the SenseHub Cow Calf system is the latest technology from the company that helps monitor and gather data in real time to improve decision-making.
“The system tracks activity and rumination in real time with an ear-mounted accelerometer,” she explains. “SenseHub Cow Calf ear tags also illuminate and flash, making it easier for caregivers to find animals flagged by the system. SenseHub Cow Calf provides remote, 24/7 monitoring of individual cows and breeding heifers. It helps improve breeding decisions. You get heat detection data and insemination timing guidance.”
Bormann-Liss says the system provides three types of monitoring:
- Reproduction monitoring — Receive data on the reproductive status of every cow and reduce the inconsistency of monitoring heat.
- Health monitoring — Receive alerts of potential health issues earlier, often before clinical signs become visible.
- Group monitoring — Understand key herd behaviors at a macro level, including rumination activity, herd movement and other comfort, nutrition and health information.
“This monitoring technology can help indicate reproductive issues faster, such as animals not having regular cycles or suspected of aborting,” she says. “All the while, it monitors animal well-being.”
Producers are given data, which is presented in simple-to-read, understandable dashboards. Reports on individual animal estrus, health and group status are available, and you can create custom reports to your needs.
“What the producer puts into the system is what information they will receive out of it,” Bormann-Liss summarizes. “As long as cow or heifer data is put in, it will generate reports, breeding dates and expected calving dates based on the information.”
Bormann-Liss says there are three key factors for the system’s success:
- Tag placement is important. It should be placed in the middle third of the ear between the two cartilage ribs. The tag must be dangling and not caught on another ear tag. This will ensure the activity data is being captured.
- A consistent routine also is important. To identify differences in behaviors and patterns, there needs to be a consistent routine for at least 10 days, but 14 to 21 days is ideal. This will set a baseline to determine if the animal is doing something unusual.
- Read range is a factor to be mindful of. The system is highly accurate a quarter mile in front of it and an eighth of a mile behind it. Animals need to come within that range at least once a day, so the data collected in the tag can be synced up to the cloud and analyzed by the producer. That can be done by strategically placing the controller by the water source or another area the animal will be coming to at least once in a 24-hour period.
How Does Trinity Farms Use the Tags?
- All breeding females are tagged and monitored. Tags go in before breeding season and are cut out at pregnancy check to avoid loss. “They say it takes nine days for the algorithm to establish the baseline before you can really start to rely on it,” Forman explains. “So, we try to get those cattle tagged 10 days to two weeks prior to when we start breeding season.”
- Breeding decisions are based on SenseHub alerts. SenseHub sends heat alerts and creates a timed breeding window. “When they hit the system, it sends an alert, and that starts what I call the countdown,” Forman explains. He has two graphs set up — one for conventional semen and one for sexed semen — and breeds according to those windows.
- The light feature and app are a training tool. Forman says new employees get access to the SenseHub app, and he turns tag lights on for pull times. This helps train employees and improve their awareness of when a cow is in heat.
- System infrastructure is spread across multiple pastures. Cows are in big, brushy pastures, so he has multiple antennas and manages grazing and feeding to bring cows into range. “We try to feed up by the road every morning to draw those cattle to where they’re going to hit the antenna in the morning before we need to pull in cattle,” Forman says.
Trusting the Tag Was the Biggest Challenge
According to Forman, the hardest part wasn’t understanding or putting in the hardware; it was getting over traditional timing and learning to trust the data. The timing of the system is different from what you might have experienced when heat detecting.
He initially questioned the alerts: “I said, ‘Hey, I’m seeing these cows in heat like six to eight hours before they’re showing up on the system. Something’s wrong,’ and they assured me, ‘Oh, no. That’s how the algorithm’s designed to work.’”
And he frames trust as the central hurdle: “The biggest challenge was just the trust — to trust the system, to trust the process.”
Cost Versus Value
Forman says while the system is not cheap, the economics pencil out when you account for more AI-sired calves and reduced labor, especially when producing seedstock bulls.
“How we’re breaking this down is we’re looking at it from the respect of how many more AI pregnancies are we ending up with versus what we were doing in the past,” he explains. “Just think about what happens when we push another 20 bulls through the bull sale. We didn’t add an extra cow… we didn’t do anything different other than how we’re AIing the cattle.”
Forman summarizes, “If you’ve got a serious seedstock operation, I think it’s worth serious consideration, and I can’t imagine anybody who tries it would be disappointed. We’ve become huge believers in the system.”
While the system is a no-brainer for seedstock producers, Bormann-Liss explains commercial cow-calf producers can also benefit from the technology by tracking cow, heifer and bull data, including:
- Monitor reproduction heats and when being bred by the bull.
- Gather heat information to note which heifers and cows are being bred or may not even show a heat.
- Track bull data allowing producers to select bulls to use for more accurate pregnancy windows or knowing how accurate the calving window will be.
Q&A About SenseHub Cow Calf
Bormann-Liss says these are the main questions she is asked by producers:
- How is the equipment powered? You will need internet of some sort (Wi-Fi, hotspot, hardwire) to connect to the controller that collects the information and sends it back to the producer. You will also need a regular 110-volt outlet to plug the system in.
- Do you have a tech support department and how do I learn more about the dashboard after installing? Yes, we have a great technical support department that will help you get started and installed. After installing, then a customer success representative will reach out and help with the dashboard and how to input cows along with watching heats and reading the graphs and breeding window when cows show heats.
- Can tags be used more than once? Yes, you can cut the button out of the back of the tag and unassign it to a cow and reassign it to a new cow or heifer on the same day. Tags have a four-year warranty and five-year battery life.
- What kind of computer do I need to install the system on? A Windows-based computer needs to be used to set up the system. After that, any Apple device can be used.
- How soon can I get a system if interested in buying? We recommend giving yourself two to three weeks for ordering and installation and a month prior to breeding — so in all, four to six weeks to give yourself accurate results.
