"We put the collars on the herd on September 20 last year, just 13 days before the start of mating, and our six-week in-calf rate went from averaging about 70-72% to 82%," Cameron says.
More accurate heat detection combined with improved herd health both contributed to the better result.
"Having the collars on the herd also meant I could take some weekends off the farm over mating, without adding any pressure on my staff, and know that we wouldn't miss any cows coming on heat."
Cameron farms 167ha (155ha milking platform) just north of Te Awamutu, milking 560 spring calving cows and this year, for the first time, another 60 autumn calvers.
He's a second-generation owner of the property and farms opposite his brother Fraser who is running a smaller 200-cow operation, also fitted with Allflex collars.
Cameron's farm is run as a system 4-plus with about 800kg/cow of feed added to the pasture ration, mostly delivered through either an in-shed meal feeding system or mixing wagon to cows on the farm's feed pad.
The 40-aside herringbone cow shed has automatic cup removers and its Protrack® automatic drafting system is linked to the Allflex monitoring software that gathers all cow data for analysis either from a computer in the shed or anytime through an app on his phone.
Cameron says the collars have provided major benefits for his business. In addition to improved heat detection and better in-calf rates, and less pressure on his team over the mating period, the real-time rumination data from each cow has allowed them to check health much earlier than through observation.
"We've been able to pick up cows that might have a mastitis infection or lameness much faster than before we put the collars on. It's hard to put a dollar value on that, but it's definitely a benefit," he says.
"We have dropped tail painting out of our mating system now too. Our AI technician had never worked in a herd with collars until last year at our place, and he couldn't believe how accurate our heat detection was."
Cameron is so confident of achieving high in-calf rates after his experience last mating that he will drop using bulls to back up his AI programme from next spring.
"That's a big saving in cost, and the other benefits like not having to bring animals on to the farm from outside and reducing the risk to staff from bulls fighting or riding cows on the feed pad."
"We'll just use AI for nine weeks and not have any bulls to tail up the herd."
Cameron chose the monthly lease option when he signed on to install the Allflex Monitoring Collars and software. It was slightly more expensive than buying it outright but made sense from a cashflow perspective for him.
To find out more, visit allflex.co.nz or talk to your local Farm Source team today.
