Semex Sponsors WDE Virtual Farm Tour
Semex is pleased to have been selected as a sponsor of one of the World Dairy Expo (WDE) Virtual Farm Tours in 2010.
WDE Virtual Farm Tours allow WDE visitors to tour dairies from around the U.S. without leaving the grounds. Presented free of charge each day during the show, Virtual Farm Tours focus on a variety of management topics, including: farm longevity, innovative reproductive tools, grazing benefits, managing transition cows, a research dairy herd, family succession, environmental stewardship and robotic calf feeders.
Semexs Virtual Farm Tour is slated for Wednesday, September 29 and features Stewart Farms Inc., of Nampa, Idaho.
Joe Stewart manager of Stewart Farms Inc. is the third generation to manage the dairy that his grandfather started 1940. Along with his parents, Jim and Marcella, and brother Jere, Joe has expanded the farm to 500 acres and has peaked at 900 cows with a RHA of 30,000 lbs.
With an eye on the future and another on maximizing profitability, Joe Stewart helped develop and implement technologies that allow Stewart Farms to evaluate the individual cows profitability and contribution to the herd based on a daily profit/loss system. This system has allowed them to willing step back to 750 cows and 12,473 kgs RHA to cut feed costs by $2(US)/cow/day, increasing profitability and helping the dairy compete with larger commercial dairies.
Relying heavily on new technologies as they become available, the Stewarts heat detection is done through a neck worn activity system, Heatime. This system allows them to detect the optimal breeding time, thereby reducing labor and input costs. Since implementing this system theyve reached a 54.5% conception rate, reduced days open by almost 30 days, dropped their calving interval to 12.6 months and reduced services per conception from 3.4 to 2.4.
Heatime is sold through Semexs ai24 system with Micro of Amarillo, Texas. This program is the complete solution for efficient AI, offering heat detection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! With over 450,000 collars in use on 2500 farms worldwide and coast-to-coast in the USA, it is a highly reliable system for dairymen looking to increase profitability. Heatimes heat detection accuracy rate is 85-90%, with a 99% read rate.
For more information on all of the WDE Virtual Farm Tours visit www.world-dairy-expo.com.
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