Tomarata COWaPATCHe innovation wins Fieldays award

When dairy farmer Stu Paterson bought his first herd several years ago, he used to tear strips off his rubber apron to make into stickers to identify cows requiring attention.

He’d slap these onto the cows’ hindquarters so that he could quickly and easily remind himself of any requiring treatment, or those whose milk needed to be kept out of the vat.

This ingenuity last month saw Stu and partner Melisa Jones take out a major innovation award at Fieldays in Hamilton.

Their COWaPATCHe product, refined from the cut-up apron prototype, won the People’s Choice Award.

Stu says he was spurred on to develop the sticky treatment patches, which are glued to the cow’s hindquarters, by the need to generate more income to pay off a tax bill.

The design has been trademarked and the stickers were a big hit with Fielday visitors.

Since he was six, Stu wanted to be a farmer, but his Dad encouraged him to join him as a plumber when he left school. He says plumbing helped him into his first dairy farm six years ago and forced him to be innovative.

The easy-to-use circular sticky patches are divided into quarters to correspond with front and rear, and left and right.

They can be used to identify treatment or management options for either the hoof or the teat. Other patches in the COWaPATCHe kit include an observation patch, colostrum patch, a withholding sticker and ones for identifying dry cows and cows whose milk can be returned to the vat after treatment. A vivid marker is used to add information, and using the patches eliminates the need for climbing the rails to check cattle numbers and then having to refer to a blackboard stuck on a wall, often remote from the pit.

Stu says the patches will become an important management tool for farmers, and will be especially useful for those who employ workers and sharemilkers.

“The stickers mean the whole team on the farm is reading from the same page, and the risk of mistakes being made because information hasn’t been passed on, or not noted, will be minimised. Ultimately, all farms throughout the country could be using the one system which will hugely benefit milk companies, for example, and result in less contamination, better animal welfare, and more potent collection of colostrum as each farmer will know when it’s at its optimum strength to most benefit the calf.”

Stu says there are 11,400 dairy sheds throughout the country, with only one percent of these fully computerised to record herd health and treatment options.

“Your average cow cocky can’t afford that kind of set up, but will always be looking for ways to improve management and make life easier. Investing $1.50 per patch is minimal in terms of the cost of contaminated milk getting into the vat.”
The couple is still working on improvements to the patch starter kit, of which they sold 30 at Feildays. They are also looking at adding to the range and at export options.

“We were blown away by the response from the public to the product – and it’s going to go global. We have interest from Australia and Japan, and from a major New Zealand company wanting to help distribute it.”

Information: Stu Paterson, phone 423 9388, or www.cowapatche.co.nz