Leading the way in beef & dairy
There are over 6 million cows in New Zealand. When compared to the 94 million cows in the USA or even the UK’s 10 million, this number may seem small - but it’s the approach kiwis take in analysing and nurturing our livestock that makes NZ a key player on the world’s beef & dairy stage.
Overall herd health is a vital factor in ensuring that our cows are as productive as possible, and our dairy and beef industries have led the way in developing and harnessing technologies that are widely used around the world.
Palmerston North organisation, Max Tarr Electrical is at the forefront of deploying these innovations throughout the country in partnership with livestock intelligence specialists Allflex.
The Allflex solution centres around Smart RFID collars that are placed around the neck of each individual cow and valuable data is collected in real-time, delivering insights into the health, nutrition, and reproduction status of our livestock.
Max Tarr Technician, Bryce Hogg says that these innovations are recognised globally because they have been proven to deliver superior outcomes over many years.
“We construct a central hub, plug-and-play box, that contains a PC for the data collation and diagnostics along with an uninterruptible power supply that ensures consistent clean power is available in remote and power-turbulent regions.
“Multiple solar units out in paddocks collect the data constantly and wirelessly communicate it to the central hub meaning farmers can visualise dozens of factors related to their entire herds in real-time,” says Hogg.
Continued development
Along with Allflex, Max Tarr has been constantly evolving the solution for over three years. Nearly 300 central hubs are currently deployed on farms throughout the country and demand from new customers has remained high.
“Feedback from users has been vital in the development and enhancement of the solution.”
Assured performance
One component that has remained consistent since the inception of the livestock monitoring solution is the inclusion of an Eaton 5E UPS to safeguard the central hub units that are frequently deployed in locations with fluctuating power quality and reliability.
If the power is interrupted to the central hub the UPS ensures the system can safely shut down, preserving valuable data and the unique configurations of each customer site. Clean, reliable power is also an important consideration says Hogg.
“Our customers’ locations experience frequent power disruptions and fluctuations that can damage the equipment and introduce risk to data, so the 5E’s power cleaning capabilities guarantee the clean, consistent power quality these units need to perform as needed.”
Quality over cost
Beyond the performance characteristics of the Eaton UPS, Hogg also points out other factors that have made Max Tarr stick with Eaton.
“We’ve definitely investigated and been presented with alternative options for the UPS in these units. Though some of them were more cost effective, we consider performance and availability to be crucial. The Eaton units are part of our integrated solution because they not only provide us with the best performance and quality, but there is always stock available locally when we need it. This reassurance for our customers is why our solution leads the market,” he says.
For more information
Max Tarr Electrical Ltd: www.maxtarr.co.nz/
Livestock monitoring: www.allflex.global/livestock-monitoring/