In the late 1950's, when Veterinarian Earl Smith and A.I. Technician Carl Vail learned that local ranchers had no idea that a cow had to be in estrus ("heat") before she could conceive to artificial insemination, they decided to develop a device to assist A.I. breeders in determining when a cow was in true "standing heat". With the involvement of their inventive neighbor, Wilbur Rule, and after many false starts, the Kamar Heatmount Detector was developed. Over several decades, the Kamar Heatmount Detector has become the accepted standard for economical, accurate bovine heat detection worldwide.