What our customers say

Managing 900 dairy cows in Balclutha, South Otago, Rhonda Bamford installed the smaXtec system at Hillfoot Farm Ltd. in March 2024. Since then, the process has become more structured, efficient, and far less stressful for both the team and the cows.

Time savings that matter
Rhonda Bamford explains: “No more running the best guess selection into the shed to be checked. I estimate it saved 20 to 30 minutes every time we had to do it. Precious time we were able to utilise for something else or a longer lunch.”

Optimised calving management
“Last calving season, the amount of time we spent looking for missing calved mums was absolutely minimal”, she shares. When her husband mentioned two cows were missing from the 40 calves collected that morning, Rhonda Bamford scanned the calving alerts, ticked off the confirmed ones, and handed him a shortlist. “Of course, I had to highlight to him the most likely one, and I was correct every time – two twins”, she claims.

A real game changer
Two cows showed no external signs of calving, but the combination of calving and health alerts prompted a check-up: “One was a cow that needed a C-section – both mum and calf saved. Second girl was a terrible presentation that the vet said was likely to be a rotten calving eventually. Good outcome for everyone that day.”

Early detection of metabolic issues
The system also notified us about cows at risk of metabolic problems before and after calving. Rhonda Bamford explains: “The indications of potential metabolic problems before and after calving were super helpful. We were able to provide support to cows that needed it much earlier with the monitoring of the calving alerts and bringing high-risk cows out of the calving area prior to them calving down. Any interventions for these cows were given in a more timely manner.”

In March 2025, smaXtec was installed at Greencroft Farm, a 500-cow operation in the UK. Within days, smaXtec helped identify 5 critical health issues on the farm – from a retained placenta and E. coli to two mastitis cases.
With the help of the system, a hygiene issue was detected during cow preparation in the parlour.
With 500 cows and 150 heifers, Greencroft Farm is already benefiting from the smaXtec early detection and improved health management – a promising start for more profitable and sustainable farming.

Daniel Bradbury, who runs a 600-cow dairy farm with Denise Knop in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, installed smaXtec in October 2023. Since then, the farmer has seen impressive improvements in his transition cow management: “The ability to track rumination post calving and receive temperature alerts for early signs of milk fever has been invaluable”, Daniel Bradbury explains. With smaXtec, he can now even intervene before cows go down. Thanks to the smaXtec calving alert the farmer successfully saved one of his cows and its calf: “One of the standout features is the calving alert, which was also a great help when one of our cows calved a month early at grazing”, he says. During the dry cow period, smaXtec was a great help for Daniel Bradbury, as it improved the management on his farm. According to Daniel Bradbury: “Using the data over the dry cow period meant that we could better manage our feeding to really set the cows up for calving and for the season. Overall, the smaXtec bolus has been a game-changer for our farm, offering peace of mind and enabling more proactive, efficient care.”

Mark Tobin, a farmer in Cahir, Tipperary, Ireland was able to truly transform his dairy farm with 64 cows to a more profitable and sustainable one.
At the time of the smaXtec installation, the calving season was still ongoing, with a small percentage of cows yet to calve. Despite this, 56 cows out of 64 were successfully inseminated within the first three weeks of the breeding season, achieving a remarkable submission rate of 87.5%.
Thanks to the accurate health monitoring system he was able to reduce costs while improving his herd management.

A dairy farm with 187 cows in Scotland is successfully using the smaXtec health management system, by picking up many cows with torsions and even a cow with an internal torsion. With the help of the smaXtec calving alerts, they saved 6 calves and 3 cows which, of course, resulted in financial savings. According to them, they saved about £8,000. The farmer really appreciates all the health benefits of the system, but also the ability of monitoring his cows when calving: “It really is a great bonus for me, as after getting an alert I will check on a cow more often than without”, the farmer explains.