Papers scattered across the desk in haphazard piles. Filing cabinets filled with outdated records and herd data. Results from past herd checks that haven’t been entered into the computer yet. While most of us have likely encountered one or more of these in our own space at some point, it can make productivity and real-time decision-making feel almost impossible to achieve.
Herd management software can make it easier to gather, organize and use data to make profitable decisions. However, this often means being tied to your office where the software lives. But what if technology can help you leave the office behind?
Mobile herd management solutions are designed to enhance data management, workflows and efficiencies from any location. Improve the way you manage your herd with these cloud-based and mobile solutions tips.
Access data from anywhere at any time
A common misconception is that for a dairy to succeed, the farmer must always be at the farm or able to be there at the drop of a hat. With the right team and herd management solution, you can still successfully manage your farm when you’re away.
For example, after a tragic accident, a California dairy farmer found himself running his brother’s 850-cow herd. Living three hours from the farm and unable to be there every day, he needed a way to keep up with the dairy. A cloud-based herd management solution was his answer.
As he notices issues or trends, like pregnancy rates lower than his threshold, he further investigates the data and consults with his herd manager for additional context. Together, they find the source of the issue and plan a solution. All this analysis occurs in real time, three hours from the farm.
Mobile solutions help you save time and create efficiencies on your farm. Tasks that used to take two to three passes through a pen can now take one by pairing mobile solutions with an RFID wand. Photo courtesy of VAS.
Reap the many benefits of going mobile
Going mobile allows for rapid cowside data entry and quick access to your herd’s information, offering new opportunities to boost efficiency by combining tasks or approaching them differently. Mobile solutions can enhance the workflow of your dairy in numerous ways, including:
- Compliance. A mobile herd solution helps ensure the procedures and protocols on your farm are carried out correctly and in a timely manner. With mobile entry, the system automatically records a timestamp when an animal is checked off and notes who performed the task. This fosters transparency while keeping your team connected and held accountable.
- Accuracy. Mobile solutions make it easier to verify your data and catch errors faster. Have you or a team member ever mistakenly recorded the incorrect breeding? Writing 654 instead of 645? A cowside mobile solution would’ve flagged that 654 is dry, indicating an input error.
- Speed. Using a mobile herd solution can help take tasks that required two to three passes through a pen down to just one. With mobile access to cow information, you can easily see all treatments and procedures a cow needs and do them in one pass-through. Automatic prompts and faster data entry can also help you reduce lockup time and make workflows more efficient.
- Efficiency. With mobile entry, flipping through and wrestling with papers, writing information down and returning to your office to enter it into your software is a thing of the past. Mobile herd management allows you and your team to enter and access data easily at any time and from anywhere.
These time savings and improved efficiencies can also lead to more dollars saved. One Wisconsin dairy doubled their herd size in a year and needed a better way to manage and access cow information. They looked to mobile tools included in their herd management software to find a solution.
Using the cowside data entry feature and moving away from using a clipboard, it took them less time to complete DHIA testing. They saved an hour for each test and an hour’s worth of work for the tester, as the data could be easily downloaded and shared. As a result, they realized savings with their bill.
They also experienced similar efficiencies and savings with vet checks. With mobile access to data, they could easily see which cows needed vaccinations and treatments. This helped reduce lock-up time and kept cows moving through the pen. Overall, vet checks took around an hour less, saving them money on their vet bills.
Take your mobile herd management to the next level
Even if you already use mobile solutions, regularly revisit your workflows to tap into even more efficiencies.
For example, pairing mobile herd management with an RFID reader and tags can make herd checks and worklists easier, faster and more accurate. You can also find efficiencies by tailoring herd management software to automatically assign processes on the back end. This removes extra data input, shaving off time working animals and in the office.
To truly get the full benefit from your mobile and cloud-based herd management solutions, make sure you are utilizing all the tools available to you. A few often overlooked features include:
- Alerts: Receive email or text notifications when key performance indicators trend higher or lower than defined thresholds.
- Insights: Dial into essential areas of your dairy, like herd health and reproduction, to improve your bottom line.
- Consolidation of information: Integrate with other on-farm technologies and organizations, from milk meters to milk plant data and activity monitors to feed information, to create a comprehensive view of your herd without the hassle of switching between multiple programs.
Find the right herd management partner
Finding a herd management software team that will provide the support and guidance you need when you need it can take your herd management solutions to the next level.
When you have questions about your mobile herd management solutions, an experienced team should be ready and available to help. If you are looking to create a specific automation or modify a workflow, your partner should be ready to customize existing solutions to meet your dairy’s unique needs.
Find a trusted partner with a product that creates efficiencies at your dairy. Work with your herd management software partner to find what mobile and cloud-based solutions will work best with your current systems and how to continue improving your workflow.
Free yourself from your office and make your herd management data more accessible with mobile and cloud-based tools.
Address your internet concerns
Some rural communities still face challenges with getting high-quality internet access. While this may be a concern when considering mobile and cloud-based solutions, it doesn’t have to be. Some cloud and mobile solutions offer offline mode. Regardless of your internet connection, you never need to worry about the safety of your data.
Solutions with offline capabilities allow you to continue working even if steel barns impact your connection, you are too far from your wifi router, your data plan runs low or your internet is down. The data from breedings, vet checks or other tasks is saved on your device as you go, and once you have a stable internet connection again or a wired connection to your on-farm system, the data will sync and process.
Some herd management software also provides the best of both worlds – the reliability of a local, PC-based solution and the convenience and flexibility of cloud-based and mobile access. These hybrid solutions ensure you have continued access to critical functions when your internet isn’t stable while providing the benefits of accessing your data anywhere.
