THE CHALLENGE

Wild Dog Dairy, a 1,375-acre family-owned dairy farm in Tasmania with 1,250 animals,
was looking for a way to manage drafting during periods of family illness, without the need to hire expensive and potentially inexperienced contractors.The existing process of manually controlling gates required a minimum of two people to always be in the dairy.

“During the artificial insemination program, we no longer need a drafting gate operator in the milking shed. We have the option of reinvesting labour savings into a longer program of AI”
Josh Bishop, Dairy Farmer, Wild Dog Dairy, Tasmania, Australia

THE SOLUTION

Draft-M8 was installed in August 2021 to identify fluoro paint and scratchie colours on the animals’ backs and automatically open gates that lead into different yards.

The camera was simple to install (it plugs into a standard power point) and operates the gates quickly. It can also detect humans in the area and keep them safe.

Over the past year the product has been extensively tested and refined to ensure it was safe, reliable and accurate.

Josh Bishop and his family – Dairy Farmer, Wild Dog Dairy, Tasmania, Australia

“Draft-M8 has given us the main features we wanted from collars for a fraction of the price ”
Josh Bishop, Dairy Farmer, Wild Dog Dairy, Tasmania, Australia

THE RESULT

Draft-M8 has been used for more than 12 months and has required minimal maintenance.
The solution avoids the need for a second person in the shed for 10 weeks a year during milkings, saving around 210 hours of labour valued at $8,000.

Artificial insemination is now being used for a longer period, and the bulls are only in with the cows for the last 4 weeks of the joining program. The dairy can now use more sexed semen and send more cows for export.

In addition to automated drafting, Wild Dog Dairy is also using Draft-M8 for separating cows and bulls, lame cows and those no longer producing milk. They can also divide the herd by calving season.

Cows coming in for milking

“We got Draft-M8 so I could log into the portal and manage the drafting remotely when I was sick. I could easily see the stickers and watch the correct gates open automatically. It was amazing!”
Rowan Stokes, Dairy Farmer, Wild Dog Dairy, Tasmania, Australia