Technology is helping Hanke Farms take calf care to the next level. At the sixth-generation dairy in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., CowManager® is proving just as valuable for the youngstock as it has been for the cows.
Now in its sixth generation, the Hanke and Taylor family milk 900 cows and raise all their youngstock. In summer 2024, the farm expanded its use of CowManager, to include the new Youngstock Monitor.
“With CowManager tags on the calves, we can treat them faster, especially in our post-weaning group,” said co-owner Heidi Taylor. “We catch pneumonia quicker and get those calves treated quicker. Monitoring all of the youngstock has been more efficient because we don’t have to look at every calf every day. We just look at the animals CowManager tells us to, saving us all a lot of time.”
One of Heidi’s favorite new CowManager features is Find My Cow Flash, which helps locate individual animals quickly. The built-in LED light on each CowManager tag can be activated from the app or desktop. Once turned on, the flashing light on the tag makes it easy to identify the right cow, heifer, or calf for treatment, breeding, or sorting.
“It’s definitely saved us time, labor, and money because we can locate the animal faster thanks to the flashing light,” Heidi said. “The flashing light saves us from having to check every animal’s ear tag. It’s easy to spot from a distance as the light is very bright.”
Installed in February 2022, CowManager has proven its value in the cow herd at Hanke Farms. The system has helped produce healthier, longer-living cows while reducing the need for synchronization.
“We’re spending only half of what we used to on synchronization shots,” said co-owner and herd manager Doug Taylor. “We have more older cows now because they’re getting pregnant sooner, and we find sickness quicker, which has prolonged the life of our cows. With CowManager we’ve been able to catch ketosis earlier than before, which helps reduce DAs. Over the last couple of years, we’ve cut our DAs in half by being able to catch these cows early enough to get them treated.”
Although initially concerned about another investment, co-owner Jack Hanke admits CowManager has been a great decision. “At first, I was a bit negative about more money leaving the checkbook, but now I see firsthand that this technology is really pretty awesome,” Jack said. “The system is very accurate. CowManager is a success here!”
For Hanke Farms, CowManager continues to deliver time savings, herd health improvements, and helps every animal reach its potential. “It definitely is a benefit to our farm, and we are so glad that we expanded CowManager to our youngstock,” said Heidi.