By applying the right technology, farmers across Ireland can make livestock farming safer and reduce the risk of serious injury. Teagasc research indicates that 65% of all farm injuries are livestock related and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) figures show bulls were involved in over 18% of livestock related deaths on Irish farms between 2010 and 2019.
Technologies are evolving rapidly in our everyday lives, whether it be in our homes, on the sports fields and our work environments. Although sometimes hard to quantify the monetary benefits of investing in technology, when improving safety is considered it becomes a lot easier to justify. A farmer getting injured can have a terrible impact on a farm’s performance, as sourcing relief workers is getting more and more difficult.
Advancements in Cattle Monitoring Technology solutions have progressed rapidly over the past number of years. Moonsyst, a Cork based Cattle Monitoring company, who’s solution uses a sensor administered orally into the rumen of cattle, have first-hand experience seeing the safety benefits their technology is bringing. With Heat Detection rates of more than 95% (including repeats), early disease detection and calving alerts, farmers treat sick animals earlier, plan calving more efficiently and eliminate the need for stock bulls.
Desmond Savage, a director at Moonsyst, states, “it is a definite trend we are seeing, that improving farm safety rightly getting more focus. We are getting an increased number of enquires from farmers who want to remove the stock bull and move to 100% AI, especially younger farmers with children. The automated heat detection system we offer gives the farmer the optimum time for AI and then monitors the cow for repeats the following weeks.”
Safety benefits of Cattle Monitoring solutions don’t stop with just removal of the stock bull. CSO figures for 2016 show 30% of our Irish farmers are over the age of 65. Ageing brings experience but can also bring reduced mobility. Ensuring cows stay healthy, will also involve less human intervention and in turn reduce farm injuries.
Cattle Monitoring solutions and technology such as this bring monetary savings to livestock farming, but they also have a great role to play on making farms safer.
