SenseHub® Dairy cow collars help Montero brothers break free from tradition in Costa Rica

Brothers Otto and Federico Montero from Agroganadera Montero installed SenseHub® Dairy cow collars on their farm located in beautiful Costa Rica.

Agroganadera Montero is a dairy farm situated in Cartago, 1700 meters above sea level, with a tropical climate. They milk 100 Jersey cows at peak through an 8-bail herringbone on 26 effective hectares.

Their SenseHub Dairy monitoring journey started with their uncle Andres who is a sharemilker in Reporoa, New Zealand. After having cow collars on for one season and seeing the potential of what the system could offer back home, Andres made the decision to purchase collars and send them back to the family farm in Costa Rica.

Otto and Federico received the system in a box. With the remote support from our SenseHub Dairy aftersales team in New Zealand, they were able to complete the installation themselves. After a couple of online training sessions, they started mating their cows relying solely on the information provided by the system.

The farm has been in the family for three generations starting with Otto Montero Snr, their grandfather. Today, Otto Montero Jnr, along with his sons Federico and Otto, now oversee the dairy operation.

Their team consists of six. One is responsible for milkings and milk quality, and one for calf rearing, in charge of the young stock. One manages barn and feeding, whilst a fourth looks after the paddocks and grazing blocks. Otto and Federico manage the team and overall farm operation.

The farm has a well-deserved reputation for always striving to achieve excellence and have been awarded for the past 10 consecutive years for excellence in milk quality by the local milk processing company, Cooperative Dos Pinos.

The main reason they decided to install SenseHub Dairy monitoring was to introduce a technical tool that allows them to break free from tradition and gain in-depth insights into their animals, adding another level of precision in their practices.

It is very interesting to observe rumination and activity. During daytime the cows graze pasture that consists of Quicuyo (Kikuyu) grass and rye grasses. They are fed a concentrate that includes molasses and by-pass fat pre-milking. At nighttime cows go into a portable barn, almost like a plastic greenhouse and are offered silage.

The biggest challenge for them, has been finding a suitable and reliable internet service, after much research and decided on Starlink, which has worked well.

Their strategy going forward is to manage the change progressively, easing their team into adopting the new technology. They have an exceptional staff retention rate, most of them have been working on the farm for many years. They are excited to support their team in adapting to the technology and using data insights the system provides to make more informed breeding and animal health decisions. Full team adoption of the technology is where Otto and Federico see will be the key to their success.

Our New Zealand team will continue to support Agroganadera Montero farm Costa Rica as they navigate their seasons with SenseHub Dairy monitoring collars. We wish them and their team all the best and look forward to hearing the operational gains they make as they embed SenseHub Dairy monitoring into their dairy protocols.