Swim with confidence through your dairy’s data sea
Overwhelmed by data? You’re not alone. Whether it is data from your herd management software, milk testing, parlor or milking robot, or other technologies, we are immersed in a sea of data. Thankfully, dashboards and integration options can help you streamline data to focus on what matters.
Stop treading water and start swimming through your data sea by prioritizing the correct information. Here’s how to make more meaningful connections with your herd’s data.
Bring your data together in one place
One farm utilizing herd monitoring system collars recently shared that they weren’t opening the system’s dashboard and using the data enough. Why? Because they were already using a dashboard daily with their herd management software, but they didn’t realize they could also integrate the collar’s data – eliminating the need to look at it separately. Now they’ve integrated their collar information into their herd management platform and are getting more value from the monitoring system technology.
Take an inventory to review all the data you use across the dairy. How many apps and reports are you looking at every day? Which ones are you getting value from? Can you start consolidating your data streams?
Dashboards in VAS PULSE Platform are a great way to direct data traffic, find focus and prioritize the critical information that matters now. PULSE Platform delivers data from all different components of your farm business in one place, integrating with many companies to bring your data streams together, such as activity and health monitoring, genomic testing, parlor integration and milk recording. VAS is continuously adding partners to our list of integrating technologies – click here to view the complete list.
Stay aware in real time
Pair your dashboard with thresholds and alerts in PULSE Platform to stay on top of current challenges or changes.
For example, you likely don’t check your number of retained placentas daily or weekly. But if you get into some bad silage and are experiencing more retained placentas and metritis, you will want to keep a closer eye on these numbers. Leveraging HealthVAL in PULSE Platform will allow you to track these health events more closely until you get the numbers under control. Then you can adjust HealthVAL to focus on the next opportunity.
You can also set up text or email alerts when data exceeds health event thresholds. Setting thresholds can help you focus on specific health events challenging your herd – such as milk fever with fresh cows. By enabling alerts, you get notified in real-time, making changes faster for more precise management.
PULSE Platform is cloud-based, which opens doors to building more meaningful connections. Not only can your team access your herd’s data anytime from anywhere, but they also don’t need an internet connection. Having the ability to work offline ensures you have connectivity where you need it. It also makes it easier to share your information with the consultants you work with when you give them permission.
Be intentional with your data
What are you trying to accomplish by reviewing your data? What is the purpose? You can sit in your barn office and spend hours perusing the information, but what will it do for your dairy? Too often, we try to use the data to drive our goals. Set your goals first, then use the data to help achieve them.
Be cautious of how you source data and avoid possible biases. For example, if your goal is to reduce mastitis cases and you incentivize your team based on the number of cases, your employees might not diagnose a cow or enter her into your herd management software.
Consider age at first calving. If you’re reviewing first-lactation performance data, you must also review the cows that left the herd – they may have left the herd due to performance issues. If you exclude those cows, you introduce bias and make decisions from an incomplete story. Data integrity needs to be an ongoing part of your team conversations; you need quality data going in to make meaningful decisions that drive performance.
Know your accessibility and privacy rights
As a dairy farmer, you own your data. When considering dashboard and integration options, be sure you understand who can access it. With PULSE Platform, VAS puts you in complete control of users and roles so you can manually grant permission to people with whom you want to share your data. You can also restrict sharing to specific segments, such as feed and health. Another safety control includes adjusting access to read-only mode if you don’t want others entering data.
As a dairy farmer, you own your data. When considering dashboard and integration options, be sure you understand who can access it. With PULSE Platform, VAS puts you in complete control of users and roles so you can manually grant permission to people with whom you want to share your data. You can also restrict sharing to specific segments, such as feed and health. Another safety control includes adjusting access to read-only mode if you don’t want others entering data.
The same holds true for integrations with other companies. In PULSE Platform, you can see which integrations you’ve turned on for your farm. Having a strong level of visibility ensures data safety and security.
By connecting and streamlining your herd’s data in PULSE Platform, you can focus on what really matters for timely, efficient herd management.
If you’re a VAS customer, the tools and features within PULSE Platform are already included in your subscription, at no additional cost. Log in to your account here or contact VAS support for assistance getting your farm set up on PULSE Platform.
New to VAS? Let’s get in touch and discuss a herd management solution to fit your farm’s needs and goals.
