Sandwiched between the beautiful California mountainscape on one side and the iconic southern California palm trees and almond orchards on the other, you will find Westwind Farms in Bakersfield, California. First-generation dairyman Adam Westenbroek and his family keep the dairy buzzing with activity while holding true to many traditions.
In 2024, they embraced new technologies with the goal of creating better balance between work and personal time. Installing both the GENEX HerdMonitor™ cow monitoring system and SmartSort sorting gate was a game-changing decision, according to Adam.
“The time-saving impact has been night and day difference,” shares Adam. “It’s decreased our time out there stressing the cows. Most days we are done by 7:30 a.m. The time savings has been huge.”
Utilizing the HerdMonitor™ SmartTag neck collars – which offer insights into health, rumination and heat detection in addition to identification – Adam was able to move away from walk and chalk heat detection to “trusting the collars.” Use of the collars also meant that Adam could tap into the efficiencies of the SmartSort automatic sort gates that were installed shortly after the collars went on.
“I put the sort gates in during September of 2024. Right away I noticed my intakes actually went up. When I started not locking cows, I thought I would see a decrease because I wasn’t standing that cow up, but it did the opposite. Right away we saw an increase which translates to milk,” shares Adam.
He’s been pleased with the HerdMonitor™ system and how the technology has upped his management but shares that one of the main reasons he implemented the system was because: “I wanted to spend more time with my family. Getting to spend more time with them has meant a whole lot to me.”
Learn more about Adam’s experience with the GENEX HerdMonitor™ system and SmartSort sorting gate by watching the UpLevel Dairy podcast on YouTube, or listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
