Precision Dairy Farming Series: Farmers' learnings on how to get the most from wearable tech | Ep. 5

Recorded live at the 2025 Precision Dairy Farming Conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch, this episode features vet Kirsty Ashcroft from Anexa, who led a farmer panel sharing their experiences with wearable technology. 

Kirsty highlights the importance of starting with the basics in the first season, avoiding alert fatigue, and working closely with vets to turn data into earlier identification, better decisions, and stronger animal health outcomes.

Kirsty also explains why successful adoption isn’t about the device itself, but about how you use it, who supports you, and how well the data fits your farm’s needs.

View the conference highlights, proceedings and more 

Did you know?

Since this episode was recorded, DairyNZ has begun a three-year research programme on cow wearables, shaped by farmers, to help turn data into practical insights. The work focuses on benchmarking, understanding normal behaviour, improving key decisions at calving and mating, identifying resilient cows, and exploring how wearables can support pasture management — all aimed at helping farmers get more value from their investment. You can read more about this in the Feb-April 2026 Inside Dairy.