Advanced Cow Care Powered by Technology

For Summer Butterfield, technology isn’t just about boosting efficiency or productivity – it’s about improving the lives of the animals. Known for her data-driven approach to dairy management, Summer has a history of leveraging herd data to help dairies work smarter – an approach she’s currently using to manage North Star Acres, a 2,000-cow dairy in Exeland, Wisconsin.

Summer believes so strongly in the power of technology on the dairy that she’s taken the message to the next generation. “I teach ag at the local high school and when I bring students to the farm they’re blown away. They think we just milk cows. Then they see the data and their jaws drop.”

Despite her belief in and history of leveraging technology on five different dairies in the past, she asserted as recently as a year ago that “we weren’t ever going to put collars on” at North Star Acres. But just as technology evolves, so did her perspective.

A Manager’s Instinct Meets a Smarter System

Art Stolp knows Summer to be an ideal technology user. As Sales Manager at the dealership, Joe’s Refrigeration, Art oversaw the installation and service of the dairy’s Afimilk farm management system, which included Milking Point Controllers (MPC) and milk meters, AfiLab milk component analyzer, and AfiAct pedometers for heat detection. “She’s probably the best Afimilk user I’ve got,” commented Art. “With their pedometers aging out, it was a better choice dollars and cents wise for them to move to collars.” Beyond that, he saw the potential impact the health data from collars could make for a super user like Summer.

Summer has strong cow care instincts, but even the best herd managers can’t visually detect everything. When it came to heat detection with the pedometers, Summer commented, “I was blown away by the number of cows that they found in heat, because if you were visually just watching them, there’s no way you would have caught maybe half of them.”

Once she applied that same mindset to health issues, she realized the full potential of Afimilk’s cow monitoring collars.

By monitoring rumination, eating, and activity in real time, the North Star team can detect issues earlier and respond faster. “With digestion data every 15 minutes, we started finding things the employees couldn’t. By getting data before the cows get to the parlor, you can enter a diagnosis code for preventative care, try something small, and see how she responds. That changes everything.”

For example, minor digestive deviations flagged by the system allowed treatments as simple as probiotics to prevent the need for antibiotics. “It’s about doing right by the cows. If she’s on the list, we do something. That’s the new workflow,” Summer explained.

AfiCollars were also placed on heifers and dry cows to gain visibility into cow health before lactation began. Combined with AfiLab milk analyzer, the farm began catching metabolic and digestive disorders earlier than ever. In some cases, the system has increased minor treatments, but Summer asserts that “I’d rather people take the extra steps if it means less stress for the cows and better performance for the long term.”

Using Data to Empower Employees

When the Afimilk system was initially installed, Summer’s crew was intimidated. “They thought we were going to be on them more. But once they saw we were using the data to help them improve outcomes, they bought in.”

Data from each milking helps managers track milk flow rates and milker application times to identify shifts that may need coaching without having to talk to the entire crew. “You can pick exactly which shift might be struggling and work with them specifically to see if you can figure out what’s changed. Because cows, like their routines and they don’t like to be messed with.”

Technology that Drives Reproductive Efficiency

While collars have recently transformed health monitoring, North Star’s reproductive gains stem from their original use of the enhanced heat detection and breeding timing of AfiAct pedometers.

“We used to breed after milking if we saw signs, but by moving to the Afimilk system it tells us exactly when the best window is for insemination. Especially with sexed semen, that timing really matters. On the cost of just the reproductive hormones, it’s been a lot less just because you’re only actually hitting the animals that are needing it instead of, like, blanketing everybody because you can.”

The results? A consistent pregnancy rate of 32–34% with lower costs and better animal health. “Because of this system, we actually use very little reproductive hormones because the system is catching the cows that are obviously ready to be bred.” Now, the breeder checks the Afimilk dashboard every morning to plan the day’s insemination schedule.

Data Utilization from the Nutritionist’s Viewpoint

The Dashboard is also the go-to source of information for nutritionists at North Star Acres. “Data from AfiLab lets the team track butterfat, protein, and lactose levels in real time—information that’s critical for the nutritionist and for identifying cows at risk for ketosis or other metabolic issues.” And when it comes to culling decisions, Afimilk helps the team see long-term trends, not just short-term production.

“You can pull up her graph and say, why did we keep this cow last year? It gives you the big picture. It’s able to help with the cost of what drug we’re utilizing and being able to keep that milk in the line versus pulling her out and putting her into the hospital.”

Looking forward, the greatest potential lies in the combination of AfiLab and AfiCollar. “From a health standpoint, collars will find sick cows even sooner than AfiLab, and with the milk meters/lab/collar combo you can’t miss because you have so much information in front of you. Our nutritionists are good Afimilk users and this will help make us even more profitable.”

Taking Today’s Technology to the Next Level

Art emphasized the continuous innovation in Afimilk’s collar system: “The Afimilk research team is constantly improving the information we’re getting without changing the hardware. Heat stress, group digestion, and with the Feed Efficiency service coming online, it’s about delivering more value from the same investment.”

As for reliability Art commented, “There’s always a risk of losing ID with collars, but we’re getting a 99.29% ID rate. That’s impressive.”

When asked what she’d do if she had to move to a new farm without Afimilk, Summer commented “it would feel like a huge step back.”

From reluctance to reliance, North Star Acres has embraced data-driven dairy management—not just to work faster, but to work smarter and more compassionately. With Afimilk, they’re not just improving systems. They’re improving the lives of their cows, their team, and their bottom line.

Joe’s Refrigeration is located in Withee, Wisconsin. You can reach them at www.joesrefrigerationinc.com

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