Thorsten Otten & Yvonne Tanne

Since January 2022, the smaXtec health system has been in use at the Otten farm in Lower Saxony. Since then, Yvonne Tanne and Thorsten Otten have made their daily work more efficient and time-saving, and they have succeeded in reducing antibiotic use on the farm by 50%.

All cow data at a glance

Before smaXtec, the Otten farm had a system for heat detection and activity measurement that the farm managers were no longer satisfied with. With smaXtec, things are different. The system has now become an integral part of the daily workflow. ”The first thing I do in the morning is grab my smartphone and check the notifications that have come in,” says Thorsten Otten, who lives a few kilometres away from the farm. ”I then evaluate: Are there heat alerts or do we still have treatments to do? And when we come here, we see which cows we need to select and which we need to treat.”

Successful calvings thanks to good preparation

In addition to the temperature curves and heat detection charts, Thorsten Otten also relies on the reliable calving prediction to manage births optimally. ”We get the notification in the time window between 12 and 48 hours before calving,” says the farmer. ”As soon as we get the calving alerts, we move the cows onto straw and give them a calcium bolus.’ This approach has helped reduce cases of milk fever significantly. ‘We used to have cows that would go down after calving, and we had to give them an infusion, but not anymore. This is thanks to the continuous temperature curve, which we can track, as well as the rumination behaviour and the calving alerts. This allows us to do prophylaxis, which is definitely very important,’ shares Thorsten Otten from his experience.

50% fewer antibiotics thanks to continuous temperature monitoring

The continuous measurement of inner body temperature, which only smaXtec offers, helps the farm keep track of the health of all cows, especially during the critical period around calving, and detect changes early. ‘It definitely helps! As soon as we get a high-temperature alert, we check what’s going on. It’s either mastitis or retained placenta,’ says Otten. ‘Then we do a CMT and treat with boluses. If it’s not manageable, then we use antibiotics, but that has become very rare. I would say we now use about 50% fewer antibiotics.’

More successful inseminations in the ideal window

smaXtec not only provides precise heat detection but also shows the optimal window for successful insemination using a color scale. This tool has already proven very effective at the Otten farm. ‘Before, the insemination technician would come at fixed times. With smaXtec, we are now much more flexible,’ says Thorsten Otten, explaining how he identifies the optimal insemination time with smaXtec: ‘You look at the green zone and get the cow at the right time – the results speak for themselves.’

Detection of feed problems, defective water troughs, and lame cows

In addition to measuring inner body temperature, smaXtec also monitors the drinking and rumination behaviour, as well as the activity of each cow. These parameters have enabled the farm managers to identify and address various issues in the barn early on. ‘It was muggy and warm, and I immediately noticed that the rumination activity of some cows had dropped. These were all cows in the dry cow barn, at the outside feed rack. I checked the feed, and it was completely warm. The cows stopped eating. I changed the feed, and everything was fine again.’

The measurement of drinking behaviour also brings many benefits: ‘You can quickly see when a water trough isn’t clean,’ says Thorsten Otten. ‘And you can also detect lame cows: drinking, ruminating, milking at the robot, then lying down for a long time – this is clearly visible through the extended drinking cycles,’ says the farmer.

Clear recommendation for the system

Yvonne Tanne and Thorsten Otten are convinced of the benefits of smaXtec and would recommend the system because, as they put it: ‘It makes a lot of things easier. We’re certainly not done yet and are constantly learning. The system can already do a lot, really!’