Page 11 of Home Hearts Hooves

“Sure, sure. Well, we came here to talk tech, is that it?” he asks, pointing to the box beside me.

“Right, the reason I messaged. Well, it’s, umm,” I grab the box and put it on the table to the left of us and start pulling out flyers as I explain.

“It’s a monitoring app that feeds data directly from your cows into the RED Tech system, and you will be able to track the cows’ cycles. You will get notifications when the breeding window opens for each one and when it closes. You will even be able to know which cow is in heat and for how long, and it will track her all through pregnancy, and if the pregnancy fails, the monitor should pick up on that as well.”

“Sounds too good to be true. How does it work?” he asks, leaning closer, and I get a whiff of that earthy sweet scent. As much as I could get lost in it, I force my mind to focus on the literature.

“A cow’s ear can tell us so much. All we have to do is attach a special sensor to every cow’s ear, and it will send info on the fertility, health, and even location of the cow back to the app. The sensors monitor temperature and movement, so they can even tell when the cow is eating and drinking and for how long.”

Dean reaches into the box and pulls out a sample ear sensor.

“So this goes through the cow’s ear. How do I put it on?”

“There is an applicator, so it isn’t too hard, but I can help do that. See the code on the back there,” I point, and he flips the sample over in his hand. “We scan that on each sensor before we attach it, then input the cow’s info like name, birthday, sex, and then attach the sensor to that cow so that it can sync up.”

“Sounds like a lot to set up.”

“It is, but once it is up and running, the data will feed right into the app, and the sensors can be wiped and repurposed again and again. The pack even comes with a small solar-powered router that we can mount up on the corner of the large barn to help with picking up the data when the cows move to the furthest corners of the paddocks.”

The waitress arrives and clears her throat to gain our attention.

“Two veggie burgers and fries, one side of bacon. Can I get you any drinks or are you happy with water?”

“Water is good,” Dean says. “Can we have a jug, please?”

“Sure, be right back,” she replies dryly.

“Okay, we’ll do the trial,” Dean says, picking up his burger and inspecting it like it might up and grow legs.

“Really? You don’t want to hear more about it?”

“Nope, if you think it will be good, I trust you, Doc. I must, I’m about to eat a green burger.”

“It isn’t green, it’s…” I pick up mine and notice the slight green tint to the non-meat patty. “Okay, so it’s a little green. Just close your eyes. I swear you can’t tell it’s not meat.”

He reluctantly squeezes his eyes shut, then takes a big bite. I watch as his mouth makes all forms of expressions as he chews and then he swallows, and he opens his eyes again.

“So, how was it?” I ask, and he picks off the top of the bun and tips the side of bacon on top of the non-beef patty.

“I could tell.”

“Could not.”

“You were in grade three when you stopped eating meat, Doc. I think I’m a better judge of what tastes like beef and what doesn’t.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that. Well, I’m actually pretty impressed you tried it. I was scared to try anything for so long when I was travelling.”

“Where was your favorite place to see?” he asks, tossing the sensor back in the box, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward a little, eagerly awaiting my reply. Or eagerly trying to delay taking another bite of the veggie burger.

Few people want to know about the places I’ve been. They mostly just congratulate me for coming to my senses and coming home. While I knew I would always end up back at Bellerelle, and it was something I was excited to do, I still loved my time away and figure, one day, I’ll get back to some of those places or even see somewhere new.

“Madagascar. I saw my first chameleon there, and the guide who was taking me through the National Park had a lemur that would come and sit on his shoulder. Those things have the most intense wide eyes and their tails are just too cute with those little stripes.”

“You would have seen so many different animals. I always wanted to travel.”

“Really?” I ask, and he nods like an excited child about to tell a story.

“I would love to see Africa, Greece, and Australia. Did you know they have some of the biggest ranches in Australia? They call them cattle stations, though. Some are the size of a small country.”

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