Here’s how one cattle producer is using technology to detect heats and improve breeding rates.

Sierra Day, Field editor

October 27, 2021

3 Min Read
cows with electronic ear tags
HEAT DETECTION: Behavior monitoring systems such as Allflex SenseHub include individual electronic ear tags and computer software to report and record patterns such as movement and rumination while alerting producers of signs of heat or distress. Photos by Hannah Gaebel-Dorn

If you artificial inseminate your cows and heifers, you probably wish you spent less time heat-detecting and making sure you know exactly when they need to be bred.

Ever wonder if there’s a less time-consuming option? There is.

Reiss Bruning, a beef producer near Bruning, Neb., uses a behavior monitoring system at Bruning Farms called the Allflex SenseHub. The cattle operation runs 500 cows, 120 replacement heifers, and nearly 500 feedlot cattle.

The monitoring system includes individual electronic ear tags and corresponding software that sends information straight to a computer or mobile device. Allflex SenseHub is also available in individual neck collars.

Companies such as Select Sires, ENGS Systems and Ceres Tag have similar products that monitor the behavior and health of cattle through electronic ear tags.

Allflex SenseHub, like others of its kind, tracks and records behavior patterns such as movement, eating and rumination, Bruning says. After about seven days, the system establishes a baseline and trend for each animal. From there, the software uses an antenna to send mobile or computer alerts when change occurs, indicating signs of distress or heat.

For Bruning Farms, this system is an AI tool.

“When I was first home from college, we could only breed one pen per week,” Bruning says. “This monitoring system allows you to simultaneously synchronize several groups. Now, we pull CIDRs [controlled internal drug release] to onset heat, have full trust in the system, and let it tell us where to go and when to go breed.”

The following are heat detection benefits Bruning has seen from the system:

  • ability to breed multiple groups at multiple locations within a 10-day window

  • less time manually heat-detecting

  • fewer false heat signs compared to visually checking heat detection patches

The system also helps get cows back on track after calving and postpartum anestrous, the period when cows do not experience heat following calving.

“Another thing I’ve found valuable is postpartum anestrous,” Bruning says. “You can watch that from the time they calve and see how many times they have cycled or if they have even cycled. And then you can make your decisions on your synchronization protocol based on that.”

Bruning also uses the system for detecting start of puberty in replacement heifers.

“Once we give a brucellosis, or Bangs, vaccination to our heifers in the fall, they get one of these tags,” he says. “They’re out on cornstalks, and I can see who’s cycled once before we try to synchronize them.”

cows with electronic ear tags

Costs of the Allflex SenseHub system:

  • $56 per ear tag for heat detection only

  • $64 per ear tag for full monitoring, which includes herd health and heat detection

  • $1,950 for the antenna station

Bruning says the battery life of tags is typically 3.5 years. Ear tags are interchangeable between cows — just make sure the software knows which cow has each tag. This can be beneficial for herds with spring and fall calving groups or when replacing females in the herd.

“This system is to a T,” Bruning says. “They all have the same behaviors when they are in heat. We can’t be there all the time, every time.”

About the Author(s)

Sierra Day

Field editor, Farm Progress

A 10th-generation agriculturist, Sierra Day grew up alongside the Angus cattle, corn and soybeans on her family’s operation in Cerro Gordo, Ill. Although she spent an equal amount in farm machinery as she did in the cattle barn as a child, Day developed a bigger passion for the cattle side of the things.

An active member of organizations such as 4-H, FFA and the National Junior Angus Association, she was able to show Angus cattle on the local, state and national levels while participating in contests and leadership opportunities that were presented through these programs.

As Day got older, she began to understand the importance of transitioning from a member to a mentor for other youth in the industry. Thus, her professional and career focus is centered around educating agriculture producers and youth to aid in prospering the agriculture industry.

In 2018, she received her associate degree from Lake Land College, where her time was spent as an active member in clubs such as Ag Transfer club and PAS. A December 2020 graduate of Kansas State University in Animal Sciences & Industry and Agricultural Communications & Journalism, Day was active in Block & Bridle and Agriculture Communicators of Tomorrow, while also serving as a communications student worker in the animal science department.

Day currently resides back home where she owns and operates Day Cattle Farm with her younger brother, Chayton. The duo strives to raise functional cattle that are show ring quality and a solid foundation for building anyone’s herd.

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