The process of adopting agri-tech solutions for improving suckler cows’ efficiency

Suckler herds play a vital role in Welsh agriculture, contributing significantly to our nation's beef production and they have a role to play within habitat management in Wales. However, maintaining a profitable suckler herd requires constant improvement in efficiency. With new technologies constantly emerging to potentially help farmers achieve this goal, this project aims to showcase the process of adopting agri-technology at Brynllech Uchaf to enhance the efficiency of Brynllech’s 35 suckler cow, Welsh Black, Spring and Autumn calving herd. 

The 2022-2023 winter period proved challenging for Rhodri and Claire, losing 2 cows due to metabolic issues during late pregnancy. This led them both eager to look closer at cattle health and performance through metabolic profiling as well as more time-efficient ways of monitoring the health and nutrition of the herd, pre and post calving.

In order to further improve cattle nutrition and monitoring pre and post calving while also identifying and addressing any other underlying disease issues, the use of agri-technology will be investigated. The project will aim to showcase the required thought process behind applying agri-technology solutions to on-farm problems and monitor the labour cost savings as a result. 

Aiming to improve the overall efficiency of their suckler enterprise, while contributing to achieving the following Sustainable Land Management outcomes:

• high animal health and welfare
• reduce the farms greenhouse gas emissions