According to smaXtec, automated health management systems are enabling dairy farmers to tackle health challenges while also increasing milk volumes.
The company produces a bolus-based health management system. Robert Kirk, UK country sales manager, notes that it works by alerting farmers to health challenges before veterinary treatment is needed, cutting antibiotic use.
“The problem is that farms in the top quarter of users were using about six times more antibiotics than those in the bottom quarter,” he says. “In addition, more than half the herds shifted their usage bracket in just one year, highlighting how a disease outbreak can quickly alter a farm’s antibiotic usage.”
His comments align with the latest Kingshap Antimicrobial Focus Report, which revealed a disparity in antibiotic use between individual herds, despite an overall drop of 4%.
According to Robert, this shows that many farmers are still being caught out by health challenges and turning to antibiotics to handle this. He adds that catching health problems early through automated systems can save time and money.
“Our device sits in the reticulum of the cow or heifer and accurately gives insight into her body temperature, water intake and drinking cycles, rumination, and activity level,” he says.
“It works by taking continuous measurements with everything connected to an app on a mobile phone, which provides alerts when the measurements suggest any problems such as mastitis, low water intake or milk fever.”
Use on farm
Robin White is a third-generation farmer based in Dumfries and Galloway, who says that smaXtec technology has helped to reduce antibiotic use in the 160-head herd.
“We looked at our antibiotic usage and it was too high and costly, so we were drawn to the cow internal body temperature monitoring feature and alert system of the boluses.
“Since using the smaXtec system, we have been able to reduce our antibiotic usage by 66% thanks to the bolus accuracy measuring to the nearest 0.01degC.
“A rise in temperature has helped me administer anti-inflammatories quickly, reducing the risk of mastitis. The system has also helped detect ketosis in newly calved cows by identifying a drop in body temperature.”
He adds that the consistency he now sees in the milk tank has been a ‘game-changer’, especially as prices continue to fluctuate.
“When we were using antibiotics a lot, the amount of milk was hard to predict and seeing consistent milk levels since installing the system has given us confidence in our production stability.
“It has changed my business without a shadow of a doubt; it’s all money at the end of the day and it all adds up.”