Members of the Three Counties Feeds team are now among some of the most highly trained CowSignals specialists in the world, enabling them to communicate globally recognised best practice management to all of their farmer customers.
Over the last 12 months, various members of the team have been trained on the principles of CowSignals by world renowned Dutch vet and CowSignals founder, Joep Driessen.
The CowSignals concept is based around looking at a cow’s behaviour and using signals as a way of determining how well animals are being managed and how good their environment is. Farmers and advisors can then use this information to improve herd management, which will ultimately boost animal health and welfare and production efficiencies.
Nutritionist, Ed Redman is the most recent of the Three Counties team to become a certified CowSignals trainer, enabling him to teach farmers how to interpret cow behaviour on their farms.
In addition, Ian Boundy and Andy Hawken have taken their training to the highest possible level, carrying out further learning in Holland on HoofSignals, FertilitySignals, PeopleSignals and YoungstockSignals.
Andy Hawken explains: “We’ve gone that little bit further so that we have the knowledge to help make our customer’s businesses better. We at Three Counties Feeds want to put more science into how we feed dairy cows. But, it’s not just about feeding, it’s about a multitude of things.”
For example, if a farm has issues with lameness, the team can review the farm environment and speak to the farm team and vet to determine what may be causing the issue – is it cubicle space or nutrition or standing times for example?
Joep says the expertise within Three Counties puts them amongst the best trained, master trainers in The World.
“They fully understand where the bottle necks are in a farming system and can look for solutions with the farmer. That means they can help farmers make the right decisions around animal health and longevity that will bring a good return on investment. That means Three Counties customers could get two more lactations out of their cows,” he explains.
Andy adds: “Ultimately, we want to make sure we’re doing all we can to make cows perform to their optimum, as cost effectively as possible. Joep is a world leader in animal behaviour and the CowSignals concept has now been adopted in around 55 countries. He has learnt best practice from farmers from around the globe and combined that with his knowledge as a vet to create a practical and hugely valuable tool to help farmers boost efficiencies. Now, we at Three Counties are equipped to communicate that knowledge to our customers.”
Throughout 2016, Three Counties Feeds have run multiple on farm CowSignals training days for customers and staff. Moving into 2017, they plan to run a number of specific, on farms days throughout the South West. By attending, farmers can also gain DairyPro points.
