It’s a love of animals that drive most into the veterinary field, followed by years of hard work and training.

But how do dairy managers and their trusted veterinary partners ensure that same care and expertise is carried out by all staff, at all times? While also maintaining compliance and ensuring strict quality standards set forth by producers and buyers alike?

VAS is taking the connection between the veterinarian and the dairy/beef manager/owner and their workers to the next level with the introduction of its new CowCare module for DairyComp. This new and comprehensive module streamlines the storage of critical information related to cow health and treatment, and seamlessly integrates it with the production side of the business to ensure optimal animal care and milk quality.

How it Works

CowCare is a dedicated veterinary module of DairyComp that feeds the larger VAS Platform and product ecosystem. The owner grants permissions to approved veterinary staff/partners to input information on treatments, proper dosage levels and intervals, withholding details for both milk and beef, and other factors critical to the overall health of the animal.

That detail then informs the action of the larger staff as they go about caring for the animals throughout their day. As an example: withholding and treatment information feeds into DairyComp and the larger VAS Platform, including its web-based interfaces that allow workers to access that information anytime, anywhere via their mobile devices . It also makes protocols clear and accessible via the VAS Pocket CowCard, used extensively in dairies today.

It also helps dairies meet the standard set forth by the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program. This includes an automated list of drugs approved for use with dairy cows that veterinarians can choose from to populate their reporting and protocol development. It also serves as a central digital warehouse for storing drug label detail and instructions that previously had to be input by hand, or required the drug container to still be on hand.

What it can do for you? 

CowCare simplifies many of the activities that are required in dairy and beef production today. This includes:

• Greater visibility between veterinarian and management: The veterinarian and dairy leadership are always on the same page because all critical information is stored and managed in one central system. This can cut down significant time spent searching out paperwork, following up on treatments and animal decisions, and just generally ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page.
• Ensures that proper treatment is given for each animal/event: Each animal deserves the utmost respect and care, and that includes a guarantee that they are treated based on the best-case recommendation made by the veterinarian.
• Easily establish security parameters for who can enter/alter data: Veterinarians have a wealth of knowledge and experience that inform the decisions they make every day. Junior farm staff do not. Role-based restrictions can be implemented to ensure that only qualified staff/partners are entering information that can affect treatment and outcomes.
• Milk and beef withholding compliance is met: CowCare eliminates any ambiguity/reduces the opportunity for errors surrounding withholding dates after drugs are administered, helping to ensure quality and reduce the risks of ruining larger quantities of produced/stored milk.
• Automated VCPR reminders: Many states require that a Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR) exists in order for that veterinarian to administer treatment to animals. CowCare reminds all parties of the elements required to maintain a VCPR and helps ensure that those requirements are met.
• Permanent records on all treatments: Whether dairy or beef, the integrity of the final product is ultimately the contract that producers have with the buying public. Even the slightest lapse in this quality can damage that trust. CowCare establishes an ironclad record of the treatment, and execution of the treatment, should concerns over protocols and actions ever arise. These records help protect producers, and help guarantee the quality of the final product.
• Automated Updating of Antibiotic Information: Eliminate hours spent uploading antibiotic information and directions — CowCare automatically provides all critical information to all veterinarian-approved antibiotics used today. 
• Easy reporting: Easily create and populate reports required for everything from inventory to compliance.

For more on the extensive capabilities of VAS DairyComp and the VAS Platform, visit VAS.com.

¹CowCare data is viewable, but not currently editable, via the web-based platform.