Testimonials from real Herdwatch users!
See how real farmers across Ireland use Herdwatch to save time, reduce paperwork and run more efficient, data-driven farms. From dairy and beef to sheep and finishing units, these are genuine stories from people who use Herdwatch every day.
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Browse testimonials by farm type
Sophie Bell
Contract Rearing Dairy Heifers, Co. Cavan
50–100 animals | Family farm partnership
How did you first get started with Herdwatch?
We had been using the blue book for our records, but paperwork kept piling up and getting forgotten about. With busy schedules and both of us working full-time, it just wasn’t sustainable. We decided to move to Herdwatch so we could record everything as we went along and stay on top of things more easily.
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day on the farm?
We use Herdwatch to record everything as it happens, whether that’s medicines, vaccines, AI records, or breeding details. It’s very flexible — I can update records while I’m out farming or in the evening when I have time. Having everything on the phone makes it much easier to keep things up to date.
What Herdwatch features make the biggest difference?
The mob feature is really useful for managing groups of animals and seeing exactly where they are on the farm at any given time. It’s also very handy being able to quickly check an animal’s full history, especially for things like vaccinations or boosters. Having all that information in one place makes day-to-day decisions much easier.
What impact has Herdwatch had on your farm?
It has taken a lot of stress out of paperwork. Instead of everything piling up, we can record as we go, which makes a big difference. Since changing our system and moving into contract rearing, we can now see a real future in farming. We’re investing back into the soil, improving grass growth, and planning new infrastructure on the farm. Herdwatch plays a big role in helping us stay organised and manage everything more efficiently.
Patrick & Carmel Banville
Spring-Calving Dairy Farmers, Co. Wexford
140-cow herd + tillage enterprise | Award-winning milk quality
How did you first get started with Herdwatch?
We first heard about Herdwatch from a friend and signed up at the National Ploughing Championships. The sign-up process was really easy, and all of our herd data transferred over straight away.
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day on the farm?
We use Herdwatch constantly for recording as we go. When we purchase an animal remedy, we simply scan the barcode and all the information populates instantly — it’s super quick. Withdrawal dates are pre-loaded too, so everything updates automatically. There’s no need to take out a calendar and count days.
What Herdwatch features make the biggest difference?
Herdwatch has made key jobs much simpler, including: - Calf registrations by scanning the tag - Breeding records, dry-off and calving reminders - Watchboard alerts for repeats - Farm-to-farm movements and instant movement certs - Bord Bia medicine compliance - Performance and milk-recording insights Having all the information about an animal in one place is a huge advantage for making better decisions, like selective dry-cow therapy.
What impact has Herdwatch had on your farm?
For Bord Bia inspections, Herdwatch has taken away basically all the work, because everything is recorded throughout the year. Movements that used to be cumbersome are now instant and done on the spot in seconds. The app is really easy to use — you have all the information you want, and it genuinely changes the way you go about farming. We’d recommend it to anyone.
Tomas O’Toole
Sheep & Suckler Farmer, Moyard, Co. Galway
200-acre mixed farm | 230+ ewes | 15-cow spring-calving herd
Why did you start using Herdwatch?
I joined Herdwatch over 10 years ago mainly to be well-prepared for Bord Bia inspections and to improve efficiency with digitised records. Before that, everything was written in notebooks, which was time-consuming and not very practical. “I’ve had Herdwatch since I started farming in 2014. Before that, I guess it was just books.”
How does Herdwatch help with Bord Bia compliance?
Herdwatch has simplified Bord Bia inspections and cross-compliance completely. All the information on movements, remedies, and treatments is there instantly, without needing paper records. “I use Herdwatch all the time for my Bord Bia inspections — it’s brilliant and gets me through without fail.”
What do you use Herdwatch for day-to-day?
I use Herdwatch for everything across both sheep and suckler cattle, including: - Remedy purchases and treatments - Calf registrations and breeding records - Weight tracking and herd insights - Movement certs and documentation - Bord Bia reports and scheme compliance Because it’s linked with ICBF, I can also check pedigree and star ratings, which helps improve breeding decisions.
What’s the biggest benefit Herdwatch has brought to your farm?
The biggest benefit is the simplicity and convenience. “It’s very easy and simple. I do everything on the phone in the yard. No paperwork required!” It saves huge time, keeps me audit-ready, and makes day-to-day farm management far smoother. I even demonstrate the app regularly to young farmers as part of my Teagasc Better Sheep Farm role. Once you have Herdwatch, compliance and record-keeping become effortless.
Donal Canniffe
Suckler Farmer, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway
22 suckler cows with a Red Angus bull
What challenges did you have with farm paperwork before Herdwatch?
I used to record everything on paper, and I’d probably lose the paper before the audit came around. Between calf registrations, medicine records, and Bord Bia compliance, the paperwork side of farming was always stressful on top of the physical work.
How has Herdwatch changed Bord Bia audits and compliance?
Before Herdwatch, an audit meant digging through notebooks, double-checking remedy dates, and hoping nothing was missed. Now, getting ready for an audit is the easiest part of the job. As long as everything is logged in the app, I just generate the reports I need and it’s done in seconds — no panic, no chasing paperwork, just peace of mind.
What feature makes the biggest difference day-to-day?
Tracking medicines and remedies is the standout feature for me. As soon as I buy a remedy, I log it straight away. When I treat an animal, Herdwatch updates the stock and tells me exactly how much is left. No more guesswork about dosage, withdrawal periods, or whether there’s enough in the bottle.
What would you say to other suckler farmers considering Herdwatch?
It just makes life easier. Everything is at my fingertips — calf registrations, breeding records, weights, movement certs, and Bord Bia paperwork. It’s very easy to use, nothing complicated about it. Once you start using it, you won’t go back.
Adrian Dowling
Beef Suckler Farmer, Co. Laois
Family-run partnership, 17–20 cow suckler herd
What made you look for a better way to keep farm records?
I was always confident my records were accurate, but the problem with paper is the time it takes. If you don’t write things down straight away, you can forget, and catching up later becomes a headache. That’s when I realised the “small job” of paperwork was costing me more time than I thought.
Why did you move from paper records to Herdwatch?
Before Herdwatch, I was writing everything into a notebook at home and then transferring it into the official herd book. Registering calves was one of the worst jobs — it took ages and dates could easily be written down wrong. After hearing about Herdwatch from a neighbour and looking into it when joining Bord Bia, I knew straight away it made sense.
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
We use Herdwatch daily and record everything in real time, while doing the job. I rely on it for: - Calf registrations - Treatments and remedy purchases - Weighing and performance reports - Movement certs and compliance - Bord Bia and inspection reports Recording cattle there and then is extremely useful — that’s how mistakes are avoided.
What difference has Herdwatch made on your farm?
The biggest benefit is simple: time saving — and time is money. Having everything in one place has made inspections far less stressful. I can have all my Bord Bia reports ready in about an hour now, and I don’t dread paperwork anymore. I wouldn’t go back to any other way, and I couldn’t recommend Herdwatch enough.
Barney Carroll
Dairy Store-to-Beef & Sheep Farmer, Co. Galway
Dairy store-to-beef system 70 commercial ewes + pedigree Suffolk flock
How did you find out about Herdwatch?
I first heard about Herdwatch through Rory Best. I saw him using it on his own farm on Facebook, listened to what he had to say, and decided to download the app afterwards. Herdwatch then got in touch with me about joining, and they were top class — fierce easy to deal with. Signing up was one of the easiest things ever. You only need a few details like your herd number, and then you’re ready to go.
How do you use Herdwatch on your farm?
We use Herdwatch for recording everything across both the cattle and sheep enterprises. One of the biggest benefits is logging medicines straight away: If I buy something in the vets, it’s recorded immediately on the phone. There’s no more going back to the shed at night to find packaging and write it into a book. The same goes for feed purchases — once concentrate is dropped at the farm, I just input the docket straight away. It means you can keep track of everything you buy without digging through paperwork later.
What’s the biggest benefit for cattle and sheep management?
The biggest benefit is having all the information in one place, instantly. Cattle movements are much faster — just enter the buyer’s herd number and the movement number is done. With Herdwatch, lambing records and ewe performance are recorded straight away, especially using the EID reader.
What would you say to other farmers considering Herdwatch?
You can’t go wrong with it — it’s the simplest thing I’ve ever used. We’re no longer writing notes in diaries or trying to find old records. Everything is on the phone, tidy, organised, and the Herdwatch team are always only a phone call away if you need help.
Pat O'Brien
Dairy Farmer, Co Offaly
Pedigree Holsteins and British Friesian crosses
How does Herdwatch help with compliance?
"Once you have used the product before, the withdrawal dates are there, there’s no longer a need to count up the days using your fingers, it does all that for you. I had two inspections last year and they were both complimentary of the Herdwatch records. Nobody likes paperwork, but regulation is probably the one friend we have with Mercosur coming in, the one thing we have is standards and traceability."
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
"In spring, when you are under pressure, you could be doing it late at night making mistakes. But now with Herdwatch, once I tag a calf, I register it there and then. If someone comes into the yard and wants to buy three calves, I can do the movement cert straight away, standing in front of the calf pen. And if you are selling to regular customers you have all their details already."
How does Herdwatch support breeding management?
"It’s great for the breeding! Late in the season I might put two straws in a cow. One could be a Friesian and the other could be a Hereford which I can put into Herdwatch. Even pre-breeding is simple. You can check all cows over 40 days since calving that haven’t shown any signs of heat."
What is the biggest benefit of using Herdwatch?
"Herdwatch is so user friendly and it takes so much of the unpleasant bit out of farming."
Louise Crowley
Spring-Calving Dairy Farmer, Croom, Co. Limerick
150 Friesian cows (expanding to 170) | Family partnership farm
What challenges do you face balancing farming with off-farm commitments?
Between farming full-time with my father, relief milking with FRS, and being heavily involved in Macra na Feirme and local organisations, time can be very tight. When I’m gone in the evenings, it cuts into the time available for paperwork, and it can be tough to stay on top of everything.
Why did you turn to Herdwatch?
With the herd expanding, we wanted to introduce technology to make life easier. I first heard about Herdwatch at the National Ploughing Championships and became more familiar with it through FRS. Now it’s the main app we use on the farm — every day, several times a day.
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
I use Herdwatch for everything, including: - Registering calves instantly by scanning the tag - Ordering replacement tags - Weighing calves at birth to track target weights - Grouping animals for batch dosing - Recording remedies and keeping track of medicines - Managing movements and sending cert codes to buyers When tagging a calf, I can have it registered by the time the second tag goes on.
What difference has Herdwatch made for inspections and peace of mind?
Herdwatch has been a game changer for Bord Bia inspections. If I buy something in the vets, I scan it straight away and it’s on the system before I’m even home. When treating a cow, Herdwatch tells me exactly how long she’s out of the tank and notifies me when she’s eligible again — no need to calculate dates yourself. It gives huge peace of mind, saves time, and makes paperwork far less stressful.
Declan Buttle
Suckler and Tillage Farmer, Wexford
50 Limousin × Charolais cows
How do you use Herdwatch?
‘I tag the calves and then register them on my phone while the cow is in front of me, there can be no mistakes that way. I would be lost without it.’
How does Herdwatch save you time?
‘Herdwatch eliminates the need to do evening book work because you can record your remedy use on the go. I tap the dosing records into Herdwatch as the cattle are in the crush, it takes seconds and that way I don’t have to try and remember later what animal got injected or the dose and remedy used.’
What are the biggest benefits of using Herdwatch?
‘It’s the only way you will know how they are performing. The beauty of it is that all the information you record in Herdwatch is available to you all the time, and it’s easy to make decisions based on this. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t use it.’
Pat Feehily
Suckler and Sheep Farmer, Roscommon
Pedigree and commercial Limousins, plus 200 fattening lambs in winter
Why did you start using Herdwatch?
You need to be on top of your game to get the rewards from farming!
How do you use Herdwatch?
As soon as I buy an animal remedy, I just put it into Herdwatch on the phone. It’s done and dusted then. It’s great when I’m changing cows, if I’m wondering what calf belongs to what cow, it’s all there in my phone. If I’m thinking of selling a group of lambs, I can just check the phone to make sure they are not in withdrawal, I know there and then.
What’s the biggest benefit of using Herdwatch?
It’s like a supermarket! One app does it all, there is no more recording in a load of different books. You don’t feel a cross compliance inspection or Quality Assurance audit creeping up on you. The fact that all the information can be retrieved in seconds, and all I need to do is print off a few reports at audit time, takes all the stress of the inspection away.
David Lowry
Dairy and Suckler Farmer, Tipperary
66 milking cows, suckler herd, finishing all male animals
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
I record as I am dosing which means I don’t need to remember to do it later. When you do get the call to say that your audit is due, it’s simply a matter of printing off the reports, there is no more scrambling to get records into the book.
How easy is Herdwatch to use?
It’s very easy to get going on a phone, tablet or computer, anyone could use it, and your herd is brought in directly from Agfood which is brilliant.
What are the biggest benefits of using Herdwatch?
It saves me hours and allows me to register the calves as I tag them. I don’t have to spend an hour or two in front of the computer anymore when I get off the farm. Herdwatch paid for itself within a few weeks in time savings alone, and the lads on support are always there to help.
Shane O’Neill
Suckler (Commercial and Pedigree) Farmer, Cork
Belgian Blue, Limousin and Charolais breeds
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
Calf registration with Herdwatch is a breeze. Even at 4 o’clock in the morning if I am in the yard, I can grab my phone, input the tag number, and register the calf in seconds.
What are the biggest benefits of using Herdwatch?
One click of a button and you have all your calves there and the app will take the dose out of your cabinet, there’s no need to be worrying about withdrawal dates, it’s all there. When the auditor calls, it’s then only a matter of running all my reports on Herdwatch which are fully compliant with Bord Bia.
Brian Reidy
Suckler-to-Weanling Farmer, Tipperary
50:50 spring and autumn calving system
How do you use Herdwatch on your farm?
My father uses the app all the time. If I’m away and he wants to access information, he can see exactly what I can see. He can see when a cow was inseminated and if she’s repeating for example
How does Herdwatch help during the breeding season?
‘When it comes to breeding, I use the feature that tells me the cows that haven’t come into heat since they have calved. So, once they’re gone more than 42 days, we will look at intervention where I will scan those cows to see why they didn’t start bulling at that point. I find the watchboard feature very handy because it’s pin-pointing to me what animals are likely to be repeating in the system and – as well as that – it pin-points the animals that are closest to calving, so I can pen them separately while they are inside the shed.
How does Herdwatch simplify record keeping?
Since I started using Herdwatch, the blue book has been made redundant inside in the filing cabinet.
What other features do you find useful?
When you are strolling around the field and you see a cow is after losing a tag, you can put it into Herdwatch that she has lost it or if you see it on the feed passage during the winter, you can order replacement tags through Herdwatch.
Brian Campion
Beef (predominantly purebred Limousin) Farmer, Laois
35 Limousin cows (80% purebred, 20% commercial)
How have you improved your farm operations?
We have invested a lot in terms of facilities to set the farm up, so it can be ran by one person. Generally, we put the autumn-calving herd in there, so it makes the management of the cows and calves easy and it is also easy when it comes to breeding. The running of the farm is pretty easy; one person can do most of the tasks in a safe way.
How has Herdwatch helped your farm management?
Since we started using the app, it has definitely made the whole operation much more streamlined.
How do you use Herdwatch day-to-day?
You can see immediately whether an animal has done 0.5kg/day or 1kg/day, so it can alert you to under performance or a worm burden or a poor milker in terms of the cow. I get a notification on watch board during the breeding season of what cows are due their first serve or due a repeat. Similarly, with AI, I can record – on the spot – when an animal is inseminated, and I can also log details when it comes to scanning it in terms of weeks in pregnancy.
Pat Morrissey
Farm Manager, Cashel Blue Cheese Farm, Co. Tipperary
140 pedigree Holstein/Friesians | All-year-round calving herd
Why is good farm recording so important at Cashel Blue?
At Cashel Blue, milk quality and animal welfare are absolutely key to producing high-quality cheese. Because we operate under strict Bord Bia standards and Department testing, we need to ensure everything on the farm is recorded correctly and completed to the highest standard. Milk quality is paramount, and compliance has to be right.
How did you first start using Herdwatch?
I heard about Herdwatch at the FRS stand at the Ploughing Match a long time ago and signed up that day — it was very easy. I’ve been using it ever since for medicine recording, registering calves, animal movements, animal history, and running reports.
What Herdwatch features make the biggest difference on your farm?
The biggest benefit for me has been calf registration and animal history. Registering calves on the app is very easy and saves a huge amount of time. Before Herdwatch, we were writing things down on bits of paper and transferring them between places — now it’s done in less than 30 seconds on my phone. I also use Herdwatch to keep all remedy records safe and traceable.
What impact has Herdwatch had on compliance and inspections?
Recording medicines on Herdwatch is far easier than pen and paper. There’s nothing worse than losing bits of paper and trying to rely on memory when audits come around. With Herdwatch, everything is saved in one place, giving real peace of mind. Passing inspections has been made much easier, and Herdwatch is now a key part of how we manage the farm operation.
John Halton
Dairy Farmer & Agriculture Student, Co. Meath
200-acre farm | 150 pedigree Holsteins | All-year-round calving
What makes your farming system unique?
We run a 200-acre dairy farm with 150 purebred Holsteins in an all-year-round calving system. I’m currently finishing my Agriculture degree at Harper Adams University, and I’ve been lucky to see a wide range of farming systems in the UK — from grass-based herds to high-input, high-output indoor models. It’s given me lots of ideas to bring back home to Meath.
How did you first discover Herdwatch?
I first heard about Herdwatch at Dairy Tech in Stoneleigh Park in 2019. I immediately thought it was a really useful farm management tool and very easy to use, so we signed up straight away and had our animals in the app in less than a minute.
How does Herdwatch help you manage the farm day-to-day?
Before Herdwatch, my mother handled most of the paperwork. Now myself and my brothers use Herdwatch on our phones while we’re out working on the farm, recording everything as we go. The biggest benefit is reduced workload and having all documents in one place, easy to access. I can even help manage farm records when I’m away studying in the UK.
What would you say about farming in the digital age?
Technology is quickly becoming a necessity on farms — it saves huge time and money and makes farm management far more efficient. Between Herdwatch and sharing farming life through TikTok, I think modern farming is all about combining tradition with new tools. Everything is easier when it’s all in the app, and it allows farmers to focus more on the animals and the work itself.
Ready to see what Herdwatch could do for your farm?
Join thousands of farmers across Ireland & the UK who already use Herdwatch to simplify record keeping, stay compliant and make better decisions.
Herdwatch is trusted by dairy, beef, suckler, sheep and mixed farms across Ireland & the UK. Whether you manage a small family herd or a large finishing unit, our farm management app helps you cut paperwork, stay inspection-ready and make more informed, data-driven decisions.