How Caverly Farms uses continuous cow monitoring to spend less time watching for heats and make more timely breeding decisions.

At Caverly Farms in Clinton, Maine, heat detection once depended on someone noticing the right cow at the right time.

On the approximately 580-cow dairy, employees cleaning barns and family members working with the herd helped identify cows showing signs of heat. But with milking, cleaning and animal care filling the day, those observations weren’t always consistent.

“We were checking heats, you know, depending on the guys cleaning the barns to give us heats and checking the heats ourselves, and that wouldn’t get done, and you get busy,” Sally Caverly recalled.

Heat detection was one more responsibility competing for attention during an already full day. Even with people working throughout the barns, there was no guarantee someone would catch every cow showing signs of heat.

An Extra Set of Eyes, Around the Clock

About three years ago, Caverly Farms began using Tru-Test cow monitoring collars. Since then, the family says heat detection has become less dependent on someone physically observing a cow at a particular moment.

“We don’t check heats anymore,” Caverly said. “The collar is right there, working 24/7.”

Continuous monitoring gives the team information to work from while employees focus on their other responsibilities. Rather than relying on someone to notice and report each potential heat, the Caverlys can review the system’s information and determine which cows need attention.

People still make the decisions and carry out the work. The change is in how they find the cows that need them.

Breeding Decisions Throughout the Day

Monitoring has also changed how Caverly Farms approaches breeding timing.

“Before, we’d see a cow in heat and think, ‘Well, we need to get out there and get her bred,’” Caverly said.

Today, the team uses the monitoring information to help guide when to act.

“Now, we’re going out into the barns and getting cows up out of the stalls because that’s when the system tells us they need to be bred.”

The Caverlys check and breed cows first thing in the morning, check again after lunch and return later in the day when needed.

“I don’t say, ‘Wait till morning,’” Caverly explained.

That approach gives the team opportunities to respond throughout the day, rather than relying solely on a morning breeding list or an employee’s chance observation.

Less Time Watching, More Informed Action

Improving reproduction was one of the family’s goals when they introduced the collars. Caverly recalls seeing a noticeable improvement in pregnancy-check results about 30 days after installation, with results among the farm’s heifers standing out in particular.

Alongside those reported improvements came a change in the daily workload. Employees could focus on their assigned responsibilities while the collars continued monitoring the herd.

For Caverly Farms, continuous monitoring using Tru-Test Activity Collars helps connect heat detection with timely, hands-on management. The team still needs to review information, make breeding decisions and work with the cows. But finding animals that need attention no longer depends entirely on someone being in the right place at the right time.

The cows are still being watched.

The difference is that activity monitoring doesn’t stop when everyone gets busy.