Launched in Canada two years ago, the Texas company’s smart bolus system tracks welfare, productivity and traceability data and has been adopted by 55 Canadian dairies, with Ontario leading the way.

WHY IT MATTERS: The app tracks inventory, manages health and treatment protocols, monitors calf weight and growth, auto-calculates dosages, and sets withholding parameters.

“This is a huge thing for us,” said Kathy Merminod, STgenetics Canadian call centre manager, during the Ottawa Valley Farm Show from March 10-12. “With ST, when we introduce something, we don’t stop there. We are constantly working to improve.”

Merminod said the app regularly updates with new features based on customer feedback and experiences to ensure subscribers receive the highest level of welfare, productivity and traceability protocols possible.

The US$90, easily administered smart bolus can be used by animals as young as 10 days to two-weeks-old, depending on size, and comes with a three-year warranty and a five-year lifespan. Merminod said it has remained effective in early-testing cows for longer, but ST is erring on the side of caution.

Once the bolus, which carries a magnet, microchip and battery, is activated by the animal’s temperature, it doesn’t require any further hardware to collect data.

Once activated, the bolus gathers and stores up to four hours of data, transmitting it every 15 minutes when the animal is within 200 feet of a collector. Multiple collectors work in tandem and must be connected to the internet to receive information from the boluses and send it to a gateway device, which in turn updates the cloud, the subscription-free app, and the website.

READ MORE: Bolus-based sensor companies aim to make dairy cow monitoring smarter

Collectors and gateways cost approximately US$500 each.

Brooklyn Lloyd’s family’s dairy, Sprucetone Farms, milks approximately 60 cows and requires two collectors and one gateway, but the configuration depends on an operation’s herd numbers and barn configurations, or those travelling with a show string who want uninterrupted monitoring.

“One of the advantages for those people who do sell (dairy cattle), you can pull up the entire history of that animal,” added Merminod. “All of the treatments, medications, everything that has gone on through the life of that animal. It’s a nice marketing feature for those people who manage and sell really good animals.”

Lloyd, an early FarmFit adopter, used STgenetics’ UltraPlus gender-sorted semen, but without a heat-detection system, critical breeding windows were missed, especially for heifers.

“When we started putting boluses in the heifers, we noticed our breeding rates going up because we’re catching those heifers in heat faster,” she said. “It’s a whole management system. Not just tracking heat alerts, health and rumination, but you can track and put in all your calving dates, breeding dates and your entire semen inventory.”

System provides in-calf alerts

Two years later, approximately 70 per cent of the herd has a bolus, excluding calves; however, all the animals’ health and welfare protocols are tracked on the free app’s system.

“What sets this system apart from others is that you can put it in a calf, and it stays in their entire lifespan,” explained Lloyd, who is now a FarmFit technical specialist.

READ MORE: Bringing dairy data together in new ways

Having treatment protocols, calving weights and gains, withdrawal timelines or alerts, allows employees and veterinarians to access and update real-time information within a few clicks.

“That’s especially important for things like proAction,” the national dairy quality assurance program, Lloyd said. “They (veterinarians) want to see everything you’ve used that year, medicine-wise and treatments.”

Operators can provide employees and veterinarians with individual logins for real-time updates on treatment and management protocols for each animal. It also helps identify who, what care was provided to which animal.

“It gives you the opportunity to monitor the herd from afar, even when you’re relying on outside help,” Merminod explained. “For example, if you have somebody who’s dedicated to calves. You can have all the calf alerts go to them.”

She added that the alert remains active until the responder logs the action taken.

When used to track calf weight gains, the app calculates medicinal dosages to prevent overdosing or underdosing and mitigates antimicrobial resistance. Merminod said that temperature alerts allow early detection and treatment before symptoms appear — especially for respiratory illness, which can affect a cow’s lifetime performance and production.

“If we can catch those early and eliminate them, it’s a win-win,” she said.

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The Beef Cattle Research Council said national calf death loss within 24 hours of birth averaged 2.2 per cent for cows and 3.7 per cent for heifers in the 2023 calving season.

Death loss between 24 hours and weaning averaged 2.5 per cent for calves born to cows and 2.9 per cent for calves born to heifers across Canada.

WHY IT MATTERS: Calf losses as a result of poor program management or disease can be costly for farmers.

To help mitigate these losses, the council hosted a series of expert-led information sessions focused on reducing calf losses by addressing key factors such as calving difficulties, weak or stillborn calves, scours and pneumonia.

These strategies begin as early as the yard, said Dr. Van Mitchell of Metzger Veterinary Services. Mitchell said overall yard management can help cut calving losses by reducing the chance of disease transmission after birth, such as calf scours from dirty udders.

He also recommended using caution when bringing new animals onto the farm.

“I would strongly urge anybody who’s bringing in new cows, new calves, and especially foster calves, to really do that with caution, because you’re bringing in bugs from the outside,” he said, adding there is no way to make calves fully immune from pathogens. However, he said steps can be taken to reduce exposure, such as keeping calving areas clean and segregating sick animals.

Maintaining a vaccine schedule

Mitchell said vaccines are a critical step in reducing calf losses, noting that pre-breeding and pre-calving vaccines can offer significant protection. He recommended a modified live vaccine as providing the best protection.

He noted that calves born in the last third of the calving season are at higher risk of scours and pneumonia. Being aware of calving schedules ensures calves receive proper attention at the right intervals.

Proper calving techniques

Avoiding injury during birth is one of the most effective ways to reduce calf losses. Dr. Lisa Freeze of the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture recommended farmers contact their veterinarian as soon as they believe a cow is in distress.

She advised having tools and resources prepared for both the farmer and veterinarian to make delivery smoother, such as a pail of warm water with a cleaning agent, clean rags and lubricant.

Freeze also suggested farmers invest in a good pair of calving chains and handles.

“They are really handy tools if you know how to use them, but they can also do a lot of damage to the calf and the cow if you’re using them improperly,” she said.

Freeze advised farmers to be aware of cow behaviour leading up to birth. She noted the cervix will dilate up to 24 hours before calving. Cows may begin to isolate or walk with their tail up.

As the cow moves through the stages of delivery, she warned that if the placenta is visible ahead of the calf or the water bag is emerging, it is time to call the vet.

Freeze said cows will often struggle if the calf is too big, something that can occur if cows are mismatched during breeding. She noted that if two people are not strong enough to remove a calf with the correct equipment, then a C-section is necessary.

Overall, she said that if a farm is experiencing more than five per cent assisted calving procedures, it is time to re-evaluate the calving program.

The value of colostrum

Passive transfer failure — a condition where newborns fail to absorb adequate maternal immunoglobulins (antibodies) from colostrum within the first 24 hours of life — remains a challenge during calving season.

Dr. Lauren Wilson of Peterborough Veterinary Services said this can occur when the calf misses the window of opportunity, receives poor-quality colostrum, there is no colostrum present or the calf is hypothermic.

Wilson noted there is a limited window of 24 hours to get colostrum into calves effectively. Not only does it build immunity, but it also reduces the risk of pneumonia.

“New research is showing that if calves are not up and nursing by four hours, they are at an increased risk for failure,” she said, adding twins are at particular risk.

Once the risk is identified, Wilson recommends moving to a colostrum supplement, particularly if the calf is not up and suckling.

Producers can go online to register for or particpate in a Beef Cattle Research Council webinar.

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That’s been the experience of three Ontario beef producers, who shared their insight with participants of a recent webinar hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.

Why it matters: Benefits of over-winter bale grazing include improved pasture quality, calf performance, and reduced manure management costs as input prices rise.

The panel discussion included Don Badour from Eastern Ontario and Micha Gerber and Alex Kraus from Northern Ontario. It was moderated by OMAFA forage and grazing specialist Christine O’Reilly.

All three producers overwinter bale feed livestock, but each began doing it for different reasons, adapting the system to meet their needs.

Gerber runs a mixed 50-head of Angus-Herford cattle, cash crop, and laying hen operation in Fort Frances, integrating bale grazing on 10- to 15-acre pastures for efficiency, to increase gains, and to reduce manure handling and labour.

“It worked well to integrate into our corn grazing,” he said. “And it’s a really nice way to target poor areas of our field, like a very basic variable rate fertilizer application.”

He loads a few bales early in the season, then spends two hours each weekend dropping bales and pulling twine once the lowlands freeze.

In 2021, Kraus purchased a quarter of bushland north of Englehart in the Temiskaming area, cleared some of it, and introduced Angus-Herford beef cattle and sheep the following year, expanding grazing each year.

“That was kind of a big thing, keeping cows out on the ground that we’ve just cleared, and hopefully get some rejuvenation out of that,” Kraus explained. “We started with just a couple of days’ moves, and now we’re going to weeks at a time.”

Kraus bale grazes from December to April, preloading fields from the hay wagon to reduce tractor use and rejuvenate the land, targeting weedy areas with bales for short-term management in summer.

Kraus advised those planning to incorporate overwinter bale grazing to assess bale quality and weight for placement, and to add a straw bale as a buffer and a shortfall alert.

In his seven-day rotation, the bales are thin on Day 5, with cattle eating the residue on Day 6, and by Day 7, they’re ready to move. If they’re picking at the straw bale, he knows to drop an extra bale or move early to avoid issues. Badour agreed, adding that straw bales come in handy during storms for the cattle to hunker down on.

Badour, who raises 50 to 60 Angus-Herford cows, cash crops, and does custom work in Lanark County, began overwinter bale grazing to reduce spring mud problems and prevent damage caused by rowdy bulls.

Badour’s overwintering hybrid system uses bale feeders across two 16-acre pastures, feeding two groups of 20 pairs each, maximizing fertilization and secondary seeding.

“We breed in the wintertime … and since we calve in the fall, our calves are sold the first week of May,” he explained. “It was hard to keep them clean for sale time, so we tried something different, mainly for those two reasons. The benefit to the pasture was kind of an afterthought.”

This year, he invested in the Gallagher eShepherd collar system to simplify fencing, aiming to line up bales and use virtual fencing to rotate them.

Badour considers the upfront cost of $350 per collar and the $2.75 monthly cell fee for virtual fencing worthwhile due to the time-saving benefits, expanded grazing options, and the ability to fence off wet or problematic areas without physically resetting fencing.

The first year provided Badour with an “aha moment” when the bale-grazing calves came in heavier and cleaner than those in the confined system.

“We definitely found a difference in performance and the cows were in a little better condition as well,” he explained, adding that spreading one-third of the manure and bedding saved was a bonus.

Kraus and Badour’s cattle calve in nearby pastures, while Gerber’s calve in barns to avoid predation.

“We might lose one (calf) every four or five years, that’s about it, but it is a concern,” said Badour, given his region’s coyote population. “Feeding cows today, there was a coyote sitting out in the middle of the herd with three-week-old calves, but knock on wood, like I said, we haven’t had any problems.”

Whether left whole or rolled out, seed banks from strategically placed bales cover an entire pasture over time, reducing the need for mechanical overseeding outside of pasture establishment, the panel said.

“We do have a close pasture that we just continually unroll on it, and there’s not the residue that the bale grazing has,” said Kraus. “So, it’s not a worry on the residue side of things, and it’s producing very well right now.”

Each producer uses existing bush as shelter against the weather, choosing pastures to counter wind, rain, and temperature, with cattle naturally clearing the bush.

Badour’s cattle have access to a heated water bowl system near the barn, while Kraus depends on natural water sources and ponds up to a quarter mile away. Gerber uses a frost-free water bowl fed from a dugout but is considering upgrading to a motion-sensor unit to prevent potential freezing.

“There’s a float switch inside the (current) trough that activates the pump. Once the pump shuts off, the line drains out again,” explained Gerber. “There’s no water in any line anywhere. But I do run into (icing) issues (at) minus-25 (degrees Celsius) or lower.”

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