Making the most of the dry period to reflect, review and reset
As the season winds down and most cows head off to winter grazing, there is a natural sense of relief. But while the cows rest, your collar data is still working. This stretch is the ideal time to press pause, dig into the insights from the season just gone, and set your sights on a smarter spring.
By now, you have likely seen the value of your investment in wearables, i.e. more timely heats, earlier intervention, clearer patterns. But there is even more power in stepping back and asking, “What can we learn from the full season’s picture?”. At CowSmart, we work alongside Vetlife to help you unpack these insights, intending not just to admire the data, but to act on it. Because smart tech deserves equally smart decision-making.
- Late-calving cows: A clue to underlying issues
Final pregnancy diagnoses might show reasonable in-calf rates, but when did the cows actually conceive? Late-calving cows often reflect missed matings, nutritional stress, or cycling delays. Your collar data can help pinpoint which cows struggled to get in calf, and, more importantly, why they did. Now is the time to review that curve and to flag cows likely to need more support post-calving.
- Treatment tools: Did they deliver what you needed?
Vet-prescribed tools, such as PG, CIDRs, and Metricures, play a valuable role in reproductive management. But to get the most out of them, we also need to evaluate outcomes. Your collar data allows us to see whether cows cycled as expected, how quickly they responded, and how treatments translated into conception. Reviewing this now helps fine-tune protocols in order to ensure every intervention is targeted, timely, and effective next season.
- Heat expression and herd patterns
Wearables give you visibility into things you previously had to guess, such as the strength and duration of heat, silent heats, or signs of disrupted oestrus. If you saw patchy heat expression this season, you can explore why. Energy balance, uterine health, and timing of intervention all leave behavioural fingerprints in the data. These clues are often more valuable than pregnancy rates alone.
- Every cow counts — and patterns tell the story
Every collar generates value. And while each cow’s journey matters, the greatest herd gains often come from stepping back and seeing the bigger picture. Are first-calvers underperforming? Are late-calvers consistently falling behind? Are certain treatment groups taking longer to cycle? These patterns only emerge when you aggregate individual data — and that is where wearable tech shines. Vetlife and CowSmart can help you turn this information into proactive planning, not just retrospective reporting.
June is for strategy
Dry-off is not just an end point, it is a rare window of time to reflect and reset. Your collars have been collecting insights all season; now it is time to make sense of them. Whether you are looking to refine protocols, improve early lactation health, or plan ahead for spring calving, your data helps cut through the noise, highlighting the areas that deserve your attention and offering direction for where to focus it next.
At CowSmart, we do not just look at numbers; we look at what they mean for your farm. This winter, make your data work as a decision-making tool to support the season ahead. Find out more at cowsmart.co.nz