The Future of Veterinary Practice: How Cow Wearables Are Transforming Dairy Farming

In recent years, wearable technologies have revolutionized dairy farming, offering veterinarians unprecedented tools to monitor and enhance cow health and productivity. Devices such as collars, ear tags and intraruminal boluses provide cutting-edge innovations that deliver real-time insights into cow health and behaviour. These advancements are not just tools for detecting disease—they are reshaping veterinary practice, enabling a level of precision that allows a proactive and informed approach to herd management.

With continuous access to data from individual cows, veterinarians are evolving from reactive problem-solvers to consultants and strategists, helping farmers make informed decisions that enhance herd health, productivity, and overall farm efficiency.

The Rise of Cow Wearables: A New Zealand Success Story

The use of smart technology in dairy farming has exploded, and New Zealand is at the forefront. Halter, one of the country’s fastest-growing companies, is revolutionizing pasture-based livestock management with its AI-powered collars. These devices allow farmers to create virtual fences, allocate pasture breaks accurately, track individual animal movements by GPS and move livestock from a distance using a phone App.

Halter's rapid rise to the top of the Deloitte Fast 50 index in 2024 is proof that farmers see the value of their product. Wearables aren’t just a futuristic concept; they are here now, and they are reshaping the industry.

From Treatment to Transformation: Wearables as Veterinary Game-Changers

Wearable technology is providing veterinarians with a new level of insight into the effectiveness of treatments and management strategies.

With continuous access to data from individual cows, veterinary professionals can now analyze responses to medical treatments, pain management protocols, and nutrition adjustments in real time. This allows for a deeper understanding of what works, what needs improvement, and how long interventions remain effective.

For example, animal monitoring technology can reveal how quickly cows resume normal eating behaviour after calving, how long pain relief lasts after a procedure and whether intervention strategies had the desired effect on reproductive outcomes. This data helps refine protocols, reduce recovery times, and ultimately improve both animal welfare and farm efficiency.

Veterinarians as Experts in Herd Health and Farm Management

Veterinarians bring a comprehensive understanding of cow physiology, reproduction, nutrition, and disease management—critical knowledge for interpreting wearable data effectively. By integrating insights from rumination monitors, activity trackers, lameness detection systems, and body condition scoring solutions, veterinary professionals can offer evidence-based recommendations tailored to each herd’s needs.

This shifts their role from treating individual animals to guiding herd-wide decision-making, optimizing everything from reproductive efficiency to milk production and disease prevention. As a result, veterinarians play a crucial role in advising farmers on long-term health strategies, risk mitigation, and overall herd performance.

A Holistic Farm Business Approach

While wearable technology provides cow-specific data, the broader application extends to entire farm operations. A well-managed dairy farm requires a balance of animal health, nutrition, reproduction, pasture management, and financial viability.

By leveraging insights from continuous monitoring, veterinarians can contribute to a holistic farm business approach, ensuring that herd health decisions align with sustainability goals, productivity targets, and economic outcomes. This data-driven model strengthens collaboration between farmers, veterinarians, and industry experts, supporting more informed, future-proofed farm management strategies.

The Next Frontier: AI and Environmental Data

The future of dairy farming lies in integrating wearable technology data with environmental factors such as weather forecasts and soil conditions. Combining these datasets can lead to predictive models that forecast health outcomes, optimize fertilizer application, and assess the impact of farming practices on greenhouse gas emissions and animal welfare. Artificial intelligence can analyze complex interactions between animal behavior and environmental variables, supporting more sustainable and efficient farming practices.

The Role of Veterinarians in the Future of Dairy Farming

Wearable technology is not replacing veterinarians—it is enhancing their role. With real-time data and deeper analytics, veterinary professionals are better positioned than ever to validate and refine treatments, improve animal welfare, and drive evidence-based farm decisions.

As these technologies evolve, veterinarians will continue to be key advisors in modern dairy operations, bridging the gap between animal health, technology, and farm productivity. Their expertise ensures that wearable data is translated into meaningful action, making dairy farming more sustainable, efficient, and welfare-focused for the future.

Line Ferriman, DVM

Manager – Integrated Animal Health Technologies - CowSmart