Ep 12: Farm Tech - SmaXtec with Jeff Hill & Sara Russell

If you’ve ever wished your cows could tell you they’re crook before they crash with milk fever or mastitis, this one’s for you. Shaun sits down with SmaXtec NZ country manager Jeff Hill and Canterbury sharemilker Sara to unpack how in-rumen boluses measure internal temperature, rumen motility, water intake and pH, and what that data actually changes on farm.

Sara shares how she’s used SmaXtec for more than four years across 930 Jersey cows, cutting antibiotic use, cleaning staph out of the herd and tightening reproduction by treating problems earlier and more precisely. Jeff adds real-world examples of farms dropping milk fever by 80–90 percent and pulling bulk cell counts down by around 100,000 through better alert triage and year-round monitoring.

They also talk through water intake and pH data, how to avoid alert fatigue with smart triage, and why the farmers who lean into the data get the biggest gains in cow health, fertility and staff time.

Main takeaways:

• Boluses track internal temp, activity, water, and pH from inside.
• Early temp alerts catch sick cows days before symptoms.
• Used well, systems cut milk fever, cell counts, and antibiotics.
• Water intake trends highlight trough access, welfare and appetite issues.
• pH boluses show how herds cope with diet changes.
• Best results come when farmers actively use and review data.
• Smart triage tools cut alert noise during busy periods.

Keywords

SmaXtec bolus, dairy cow health monitoring, in-rumen sensors, internal temperature monitoring, rumen pH bolus, water intake monitoring, mastitis detection, milk fever prevention, ketosis alerts, dairy reproduction performance, New Zealand dairy farming, farm technology, animal welfare dairy, myCOW podcast, Shaun Balemi