Hornstead Dairy: How pH Bolus Technology Is Helping Fine-Tune Cow Performance
Inside the Data Driving Better Rations, Transitions and Team Communication
Why Hornstead Dairy Added pH Boluses
Amber Horn-Leiterman said the farm adopted pH bolus technology to take their monitoring “one step further” and fine-tune pre-fresh and transition diets. The goal was proactive monitoring and better early insights into cow response.
What pH Data Adds Beyond Rumination
Louisa Koch of smaXtec explained that pH monitoring gives clarity that traditional rumination data cannot provide, helping identify how cows adjust to specific rations and changes. The technology began as a graduate project about ten years ago and has since evolved for commercial use.
How Nutrition Decisions Improve With Internal pH
Nutritionist Steve Woodford said pH trends help him flag issues before other metrics change. When cows move to post-fresh and pH drops too low, “that’s a diet adjustment I’m gonna wanna make, because now I can see it.” Rumination alone wouldn’t show that.
Steve emphasized that actionable decisions require patterns, not single-cow data. With enough observations, pH helps identify stressors like stocking density or feed timing issues that rumination doesn't always reflect.
Connecting the Nutritionist, Vet and Data Team
Amber said weekly check-ins with Louisa help decode what pH patterns mean on-farm, especially when feed timing or availability changes. For Hornstead Dairy, pH boluses help unify the nutritionist, veterinarian and the technology support team around consistent decision-making.
Stream the full episode with Amber Horn-Lieterman, Louisa Koch and Steve Woodford on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or watch the complete conversation below.
