Participants heard that precise monitoring of dairy cow health is a key factor contributing to production animal welfare.

According to Smaxtec, studies have proven that early disease detection can reduce antibiotic treatments by up to 70%.

Another significant insight from the meeting was that increasing the longevity of dairy cows results in a significantly lower methane output/L of produced milk.

The meeting also heard that experience has shown that when farmers are made aware of the significant benefits, they act fast and thoroughly in adopting technology, but communication is key.

The support from politics as well as the willingness to provide tamper-proof transparency by the food supply chain, can purportedly speed up the process.

Dairy cow monitoring

Dr. Jeffrey Bewley, head of the WKU SmartHolstein Lab in the US and expert for sensor technology and monitoring gave the keynote speech at the event, which was entitled ‘How to transform dairy into a sustainable food source’.

He noted key learnings that dairy is a vital ingredient in nurturing the ever-growing world population.

The meeting also heard that with today’s possibility in measuring the health and well-being of individual dairy cows via in-vivo sensors, sustainable dairy production becomes a reality and the key is disease prevention.

“We are proud to expand our leading position in preventative health management for dairy cows by connecting experts, scientists and farmers with our unique data,” Dr. Stefan Scherer, CEO and shareholder of smaXtec told the meeting.

“At the end of the day, we want dairy farmers worldwide to have all the tools and innovative knowledge for sustainable and profitable dairy farming.”

Participants agreed that the key to increasing sustainable dairy production is not just in gathering the most precise data, but lies in the earliest possible disease detection.

This is then followed by disease prevention and most importantly, specific advice to dairy farmers on how to act upon receiving a data alert.