Why we exist: The best farmers in the world

Luckily, it doesn’t have to be like we described above. When we visit the best farms in the world, we see entirely different results:

These farmers reach an average of 5 lactations with their cows
They have barely any lameness
They have 5 treated cases of mastitis per 100 cows per year

It goes without saying that these farmers have a lot more income and working pleasure. Every farmer can achieve this!

What we do: We educate farmers, veterinarians and advisors around the world

Instead of keeping on working as veterinarians, the young vets we mentioned at the beginning of this story decided to start working on prevention rather than medicating. They gathered all the information science has available and combined that with best practises from the top farmers in the world into practical advice for farmers, veterinarians and advisors. In 1999 Joep Driessen and Jan Hulsen did their first CowSignals® workshop.

Now, more than 20 years down the line, Joep has successfully built the CowSignals® training Company. Not only does he focus on CowSignals®, he also developed PeopleSignals. This helps advisors in the dairy industry to reach farmers more effectively. Joep has educated 400 trainers that are doing CowSignals® workshops in more than 50 countries. Besides CowSignals®, there are now 10 specialised subjects available as live trainings; of which 8 have been developed into video learning. Jan has published 17 books with Roodbont Publishers in 35 languages and is also still doing CowSignals® workshops.

How we do it: We involve the entire dairy industry

We can’t improve cow welfare alone. To do this, we need the help of all parties involved in the dairy industry: dairy processors, feed companies, barn designers, breeding companies, pharmaceutical companies, veterinarians and legislators. They need to set the standard for animal welfare and actively get involved in changing the situation. The best companies around the world are already educating their staff in CowSignals® and PeopleSignals, using it to train and advise their farmer clients.

Our mission: An ideal world

Our mission is to double the productive lifetime of dairy cows: 5 lactations instead of 2,5 is possible. We just have to keep them healthy. Healthy cows have better feed efficiency and longer lives, which is good for the cow and the farmer. By taking better care of cows, we can also diminish methane production in the dairy sector by 30%. By spreading the knowledge we can create a win-win-win situation for cows, farmers and the planet.

CowSignals

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