NMR Introduces Dairy Herd Key Performance Indicators
25/08/05

NMR is introducing a dairy herd benchmarking service, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) at this year's Dairy Event, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire (September 21/22). The KPI system uses NMR technical data and monitors one herd against groups of dairy herds for a range of technical parameters.

A web-based service and available through NMR's dairy management programs Herd Companion and InterHerd, the new service is particularly designed for use by vets, advisers and nutritionists who are involved in the management of a group of dairy herds.

"KPIs is a particularly valuable tool for monitoring performance," says NMR product development manager Mike Blanshard. "With the authorisation of individual producers, a vet or adviser can set up any combination of benchmark groups and see how an individual herd is performing within the group."

Twenty-four parameters, all recorded through NMR, can be monitored within the KPI scheme covering production, health and fertility. "A nutritionist or adviser can group similar herds together and see how butterfats are doing during a 12 month period.

"Or a vet can look at cell count trends for all his clients, and then monitor trends in each individual herd. If a vet can see that average cell count in the area is improving but a particular herd is getting worse - ie the cell count line is rising - then action can be specific and focussed," adds Mr Blanshard.

"What we have done is to provide another use for NMR data that can help our dairy farmer customers. There's no extra recording and, with the appropriate software on farm or access through their vet or adviser, there is no extra cost - but a lot of extra benefits.

"KPIs is an ideal tool for the management team - herdsman, farmer, vet, adviser and nutritionist - to make sure the herd keeps ahead on technical performance in an efficient way - ie. good yields without being hampered by poor fertility and high cell counts."

Commenting on the new KPI system, Gloucestershire vet Chris Watson reinforces the usefulness of comparisons of individual herd performance against other similar client herds. "It is invaluable in stimulating discussion and encouraging the uptake of best practice management techniques" he says.

"The new KPI system from NMR is just what is needed to help with herd benchmarking because it is simple to use and it collates data on multiple herds quickly and efficiently. The fact that the system is automatically updated with the latest NMR records for each herd is a bonus.

"We believe that any serious cattle vet should take full advantage of systems such as these because they are key to taking much of the guesswork out of advice provision and provide the key to making significant improvements in herd performance."

NMR is at the Dairy Event in Exhibition Hall 1, stand 128. To register for Herd Companion and the KPI system, call NMR Customer Services on 08457 660236.