Rockwella Farm Holsteins, Australia

Background

Rockwella Farm Holsteins in Yankalilla, in South Australia, was purchased by Wes Hurrell’s parents in 1979. Today Wes runs the farm with his wife, keeping 380 milking cows on the home farm, and 250 heifers on family-owned land nearby.

 

Challenges

Make the farm more efficient in terms of labour and production; reduce calving to conception time, more accurately identify heats at all stages of the cycle, increase conception rates by better timing AI, and better monitor each cows’ health

 

Benefits

“Heatime highlights sick cows much quicker than we normally could. It’s making the employment side much easier, and it takes out all the doubt and questions whether that cow is in heat or not.”
 
 

“Of all the money we’ve spent on technology, this is probably the best bang for the buck. The best return over and above anything else we’ve done. The others have been good, but this has been brilliant.”

Wes Hurrell, Co-Owner

Summary

Based on experience to date, Rockwella Farm anticipates significant ongoing savings from the Allflex Heatime System. Wes says that on tail paint and heat detection labour alone, he will save $4,100 each year. And, by reducing the average calving-to-conception interval, per-cow production will increase by 600 liters annually.