Liam Hyland, who is farming with his father Padraig, milks 850 cows in Ballacolla, Co. Laois, was the landmark recipient of the collar, which was sold by Billy Heffernan, sales manager for MSD Animal Health. Liam has also recently installed the SenseHub drafting gate.
In 2019, MSD Animal Health acquired Antelliq, the parent company of animal monitoring systems manufacturer Allflex – the original developer of the SenseHub technology – which provides live heat detection and early warning health alerts within dairy and beef herds.
In January 2021, MSD Animal Health assumed responsibility for the sale of SenseHub on the island of Ireland and since then has sold the product extensively with the support of its distributors, including Efficient Farm Systems (EFS) in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath and Mullinahone Co-Op in South Tipperary. The company has over 2,000 customers across the technology solutions business, the majority of which have SenseHub collars and drafting solutions. In the beginning, the SenseHub team consisted of just three staff covering the island of Ireland but now that stands at 12 customer-facing staff, in addition to a further five staff providing background support.
Jack O’Connor, ruminant business unit director for MSD Animal Health in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, welcomed this milestone achievement. He added: “The difference with SenseHub when compared to other monitoring technology companies is the range of products that are all part of the SenseHub Ecosystem. This includes our Youngstock ear tag for calves which monitors their behaviour, the collars available for heifers, our drafting technology, as well as our somatic cell count and MilkPlus sensors which measure milk constituents (yield, butter fat, protein, conductivity and lactose) for each cow at each milking.
“When farmers are considering on-farm technology, it’s important that they ask their provider about other products they have and future advancements as well as who’ll be there to help them if and when they have a problem.”