Collar Tracks How Much Grass Cattle Eat

Collar Tracks How Much Grass Cattle Eat LIVESTOCK Beef Keith Betteridge is a senior agricultural research scientist in New Zealand who knows that one of the toughest things about managing a herd pasture is determining how much cattle eat Recently he found a solution to that dilemma by inventing a cow collar that takes pasture readings as livestock are grazing and sends the results to a central data center “Only 20 to 25 percent of farmers regularly measure pasture mass on their farms ” Betteridge says “The rest do it by eye which can be very inaccurate ” Betteridge says his method will help a producer more effectively manage grazing expecially if cattle are being rotated from one paddock to another “In the winter animals are on a tight pasture ration that can be consumed in 2 or 3 hrs ” Betteridge says “The cow collar will provide information so the cattle can be moved after a certain amount is consumed If the animals remain too long they could easily cause damage to the pasture ” Betteridge and associates have started a company called FarmSense to produce the cow collar A cell phone notification from the data center will be the main point of contact once the collars are on the grazing cattle Betteridge and his partners are continuing development on the design securing a patent and hope to have the product available within a year Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Keith Betteridge Ag Research New Zealand ph +64 6 351 8053; keith betteridge@agresearch co nz

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