While running your farm and making sure you get the most out of it as a business as possible is important, it is also important not to overload yourself.
Managing a work/life balance is something many people struggle with, however with farmers it can be even more difficult as there is always something else you can be doing.
Part-time farmers in particular find it difficult to get a break, as most of their down time is spent in what is essentially a second job.
While it might seem like a necessary evil, it can actually have some drawbacks that will make you question whether it is worth it.
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Quality of work drops
No matter what the task is, if you’re tired you won’t do it properly (except perhaps sleep). This can lead to checks and balances slipping between the cracks.
When this happens, especially at a demanding time like calving, or every day on a dairy operation, it puts the health of the herd at risk. There’s not much point setting guidelines in place to protect your herd if you forget to follow them.
Likelihood of being involved in a farm accident goes up
If you get behind the wheel of a car on an ordinary road when you are fatigued, you are 3 times more likely to be in a fatal accident.
Now compare this to being in a tractor, which are often old and predate many of today’s safety features. You’re going over hilly, boggy land. And you’re tired. Imagine how much the likelihood of an accident in that scenario.
Working with animals is another time you need your wits about you. If you can’t tell when your bull is giving you their threatening broadside view they could attack you.
Working with newborn calves and their mothers is another time you want to be ready for anything. But when night calving strikes a farmer is more often than not just out of bed.
Moocall devices make things easier
This is where a Moocall Calving Sensor could save lives – and not just the calf’s. If you have an hour or even two to wake up, get a coffee and get into the thick of calving and post-calving you will be much more ready to react to the unexpected.
With the Moocall HEAT, you can make lots of time savings at breeding time. Instead of having to watch your cows two, three times a day to see if they’re running, you can get alerts straight to your phone to tell you the exact time of each cow’s first standing heat (and much more besides).
This is especially useful for suckler farmers, or part-time farmers who might have to juggle their time between their farm and their other job.
Using the device requires very little interaction with your bull – you just attach the collar on him – so that drastically reduces the risk of bull related injury.
What ways have you found to adjust your work/life balance to your liking? Tell us in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe to see more articles like this.
