How a Limerick dairy farm reduced labour and streamlined breeding

Farming outside Kilteely, Co. Limerick, Denis O’Dea milks 270 cows in a grass-based system.

Since installing SenseHub Monitoring Technology and the SenseHub Drafting Gate in 2021, he says the farm has reduced its labour requirement by one full-time equivalent, streamlined breeding, and identifies health issues earlier.

Herd performance is excellent with the herd producing close to 500kg of milk solids on approximately 650kg of ration.

Achieving that output requires getting cows to grass early in spring while maintaining tight control of fertility, herd health and labour.

At a glance

The 270-cow dairy herd has reduced its labour requirement from approximately 3.5 to 2.5 full-time equivalents.

SenseHub supports automated heat detection and drafting, providing round the click access to breeding information and issues early alerts to potential health concerns.

For Denis, the decision to invest was driven by the practical demands of running a busy dairy farm.

He said: “We wanted to reduce our labour, increase fertility and make life easier for us, so we decided to purchase the SenseHub system and the drafting gate together.”

Installation and ongoing farm support

Denis purchased the system from Efficient Farm Systems (EFS), based in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, which has supplied more than 100,000 SenseHub collars to farmers across Ireland.

Denis worked with Seamus Barry, sales representative with the EFS team, who used his practical first-hand experience to demonstrate how the technology and drafting gate would operate on Denis’s farm.

Since installation, Amy O’Sullivan, a technical support representative with EFS, has remained at the end of the phone to help Denis get the most from his SenseHub system.

This combination of practical on-farm experience and technical knowledge, provided by EFS, is central to helping farmers understand everything that SenseHub has to offer.

Reducing the farm’s labour requirement

The most immediate change has been the farm’s labour requirement.

“We were probably on three and a half labour units. It’s down to two and a half now,” Denis said.

For the Co. Limerick farmer, that reduction has been significant at a time when skilled farm labour is difficult and costly to secure.

SenseHub has added flexibility and peace of mind during the busy breeding season, allowing Denis to manage key decisions remotely and know that the herd is monitored even when he is away from the farm.

“I can go away during breeding season and control it all from my phone.

“I can see what cows are bulling, what cows are drafted out, and with just a quick text I can make the decision when I’m not here,” he explained.

Pre-breeding done for you

SenseHub has also reduced the need for manual pre-breeding by flagging cows that have not yet been detected in heat, or those with irregular heat cycles.

This gives Denis a clear list of animals that may need closer attention maximising his breeding performance.

He explained: “I have an anoestrus report on the SenseHub app that shows when an animal hasn’t been cycling.

“Around week two or three, anything that appears on that report can be checked by the vet to see what is going on.”

Automatic drafting during milking

The drafting gate works with the SenseHub system to automatically draft cows as they leave the parlour.

This means the milking routine can continue without repeatedly checking the phone or manually identifying cows.

“When we finish milking and washing up, we go out and the cows are already drafted for us.

“Most of the work is already done,” Denis said.

Precise heat timing has also changed how Denis uses sexed semen.

He has moved from once-a-day to twice-a-day insemination, ensuring each cow is served within the optimal breeding window required for sexed semen.

This information is easily accessible through the SenseHub app, helping Denis make the best decisions for the best results.

Spotting potential health issues earlier

SenseHub brings added efficienc