Help Shape the Future of Dairy Management
Join a select group of progressive dairy producers bringing continuous, cow-level monitoring to the United States.
Herd-i is inviting 25 Founding Farmers to be among the first to experience the platform, influence its U.S development and help demonstrate what better visibility can make possible.
Score Every Cow.
Every Day.
Herd-i installs cameras in the parlor and automatically scores every cow after every milking. The system identifies early signs of lameness and body condition changes before they become more costly problems, without changing the milking routine or adding another task for employees.
The result is a simple, customizable dashboard. So problems get identified earlier, and your team always knows which cows need attention first.
Become One of Herd-i’s Founding 25.
The Founding 25 is more than an early-access program. It is a community of dairy leaders helping define how continuous monitoring will be introduced, applied and advanced across North America.
Founding Farmers will be among the first to use Herd-i in their operations, work directly with the Herd-i team and share practical feedback that shapes the U.S customer experience. Together, they will help demonstrate how better visibility can support healthier herds, more consistent management and stronger operational performance.
Enrollment is limited to 25 farms.
What You Receive as a Founding Farmer
Early Access
Be among the first U.S dairy operations to pair generations of stockmanship with continuous, automated monitoring. Gain earlier visibility into locomotion and body condition changes, while directly influencing how Herd-i is built for U.S. dairy farms.
Founding Benefits
- Complimentary installation
- 50% off your subscription for the first six months
- 25% off your subscription for months 7-12
- A Herd-i Founding Farmer welcome kit
Available to new Herd-i customers who sign a 24-month agreement. Terms & Conditions apply.
Direct Influence
Your farm, your feedback and your experience will help shape Herd-i’s U.S development. Founding Farmers will have a direct line to the Herd-i team and opportunities to influence product priorities, support and customer experience.
Community
Is the Founding 25 Right for Your Operation?
The Founding 25 is designed for dairy leaders who see technology as a way to strengthen, not replace, good stockmanship and sound management.
You are interested in identifying lameness and body condition changes earlier.
You want to give employees clearer priorities and make better use of limited labor.
You value objective, consistent information across cows, shifts and team members.
You are open to sharing feedback and helping shape how Herd-i serves North American dairies.
You want to learn alongside other progressive producers and help move the industry forward.
Proven Experience, Now Coming to the U.S.
Built Through Real-World Dairy Experience
Herd-i has been proven across four commercial seasons in New Zealand and is now entering U.S parlors. Its in-parlor camera system automatically scores locomotion and body condition as cows move through their normal milking routine, then presents the results in a simple, customisable dashboard.
On one New Zealand dairy, an independent analysis documented a 38% reduction in lameness and a 41% decrease in antibiotic treatments for lameness, alongside fewer and lighter interventions overall.
U.S producers, the opportunity is not simply to adopt another technology. It is to pair trusted stockmanship with another set of eyes that can watch every cow, every day.
About Herd-i
Earlier Visibility. More Confident, Data-Driven Decisions.
Herd-i exists to give dairy producers the visibility they need to act earlier and manage with more confidence through continuous, automated herd monitoring.
Using in-parlor cameras, artificial intelligence and computer vision, Herd-i provides early identification of lameness and daily automated Body Condition Scoring without disrupting the milking routine. The platform helps producers prioritize the cows that need attention, support reproductive performance, improve productivity and strengthen animal wellbeing.
Good technology does not replace good management. It helps skilled people put their time and judgment where they matter most.
Why Early Detection Of Lameness Matters?
Lameness directly impacts farm profitability, making early detection and prompt, effective treatment critical to maintaining herd well-being and productivity.
Improved reproductive performance
Ability to treat early when lameness is less advanced, reducing recovery time and re-occurrence.
Reduced total cost of lameness
Maximized milk production
Improved animal well-being
Why Daily Scoring Of Body Condition Matters?
Body Condition Score (BCS) directly influences reproductive performance and herd productivity. Continuous monitoring allows for feed optimization and timely intervention, essential to ensuring herd health.
Optimized feed management
Improved reproductive performance
Maximized milk production
Early intervention to ensure herd and individual cow body condition
Improved labor utilization
Improved animal well-being
How the system works
Capture: A camera is installed in-parlor on-farm, capturing video footage of individual cows as they exit the parlor.
Identify: The Herd-i system identifies the cows EID as it passes the sorting gate.
Analyze: Video images of each cow are stored on a cloud-based server where their gait or body condition is assessed using the machine learning model.
Score: Each individual cow is assigned a locomotion and BCS score.
Review: Farmers access their data and images via a web-based dashboard with customized threshold settings and notifications.
Report: Farmers have access to a suite of standard reports.
The Dashboard
Daily Locomotion and BCS scores are able to be viewed, along with videos of each individual cow in the herd. Farmers can review cows that fall outside their customized thresholds for Locomotion and BCS, and add them to a watchlist for automated drafting and further action.
