Artificial intelligence helps Higher Bojewyan Farm halve its empty rate
David Murley farms Higher Bojewyan Farm near Pendeen in Cornwall with his brothers Christopher and Geoffrey and their parents, Mary and Eric. The business now runs 470 acres under a low-input, grass-based system, after previously milking 300 pedigree Jersey cows in a higher-input operation.
The herd fell to 200 cows after a tuberculosis outbreak. Murley said the family then found that once-a-day milking cows were as profitable as the previous system, while requiring less complex management. He also reported lower lameness and said the herd could be managed with fewer staff.
Just over 12 months ago, before the farm’s breeding season, the family replaced an external pedometer with smaXtec’s internal bolus monitoring technology. Murley said the pedometers became less accurate when cows were milked once daily and kept outdoors, while tail-painting required additional time.
The system’s artificial-intelligence tools analyse heat, rumination and activity, and use internal temperature readings to flag possible disease and calving. Notifications are delivered to a mobile application. The farm used the information to select about 25 cows with uncertain pregnancy status for scanning, instead of examining the entire herd. Murley said this reduced scanning time, veterinary visits and costs.
App alerts have also enabled the farm to identify illness earlier and determine which animals require treatment. Murley said antibiotic use had fallen and that the farm used more anti-inflammatory treatment. He linked this with fewer cases of mastitis and a lower culling rate. The farm supplies milk to Arla, whose contract places emphasis on fat and protein levels.
Annual production averages 3,800 litres per cow, with average milk composition of 5.9% fat and 4.39% protein. The farm is targeting 4,000 litres per cow. Jeremy Clark, smaXtec’s account manager for southern England and a former dairy farmer who has used the company’s system, helped install the technology. Boluses were administered during morning milking, and data reached the app almost immediately.
After installation, smaXtec customer-success team lead Loretta Holder trained the farm staff. Murley said the system was straightforward to use and that the family meets the company’s team roughly every four months to review its operation. The Murley family does not plan to increase cow numbers; its stated aim is to improve the performance and health of the existing herd while examining further uses for the technology.
