5 new products to improve dairy efficiency

Rising costs, tighter environmental rules and ongoing pressure on margins are driving manufacturers to focus increasingly on technologies that help producers work smarter.

That may be through improving cow health, cutting inputs or making better use of data.

See also:  Dairy’s chemical-free disinfectant delivers multiple benefits

Here are a few of the new products that will be on offer at Dairy-Tech 2026.

1. CowToilet

Hanskamp’s CowToilet offers a novel approach to reducing ammonia emissions by collecting cow urine before it mixes with faeces.

The system has been under development since 2016 and is installed as part of a walk-through, free-access, out-of-parlour feeding station, which cows enter voluntarily.

While feeding, an actuator gently touches the suspensory ligament of the udder – the same reflex point vets stimulate when collecting urine samples – triggering urination.

The toilet then captures the urine and pumps it to a separate, airtight storage tank, preventing the urea-faeces reaction that drives ammonia formation.

Data from more than 140 commercial installations in the Netherlands show the system typically captures about 50% of daily urine output, delivering an average 40% reduction of ammonia levels, compared with conventional housing systems.

According to Hanskamp, farmers who already have the system installed are using the stored urine as nitrogen fertiliser, reducing reliance on purchased fertiliser and lowering slurry disposal costs.

• Price: £28,000 for a unit serving 25-30 cows, excluding installation
• Contact: Email Nicoline van Wilgen or Armand Booij at n.vanwilgen @hanskamp.com; or call 00 31 314 393 797

2. Ventilated ridge system

Galebreaker’s new ventilated ridge system has been engineered to improve airflow in older livestock buildings.

Serving as a modern replacement for traditional cranked ridge tiles and fully closed ridges, the system creates a protected open ridge while preventing rain and snow ingress.

The system creates a 460mm ventilated opening along the ridge and incorporates shaped aerodynamic baffles that generate a low-pressure zone above the roof.

This improves draw and allows warm, moisture-laden air to escape more effectively.

Internal airflow modelling using computational fluid dynamics demonstrated three- to four-fold improvements in air exchange rates compared with both standard open ridges and fibre-cement capped ridges.

The system can be installed from inside the building, avoiding the need for scaffolding or roof access and making it a realistic retrofit option for year-round housed herds.

It can be ordered with either a solid ridge or translucent cap.

• Price: £115/linear metre (supply only)
• Contact: Mel Green on 01531 637914

3. Water treatment

The Huwa-San based water treatment system from Intemax aims to address the widespread – but often overlooked – issue of microbiological contamination in dairy water supplies.

The system uses a highly stabilised 50% hydrogen peroxide formula, dosed automatically into the water line via a digital dosing pump equipped with full remote monitoring.

Farmers can track water consumption, dosing accuracy, empty drum alerts and general flow behaviour through an online dashboard.

In UK trials, dramatic falls of E coli and total coliforms were seen within five days of installation and had reached zero detectable levels within four weeks, including in troughs far from the dosing point.

Several farms using the system in the trials reported associated improvements in butterfat, protein, Bactoscan readings and somatic cell counts (SCC), which the company attributed to improved water uptake and reduced pathogen load.

• Price: Varies depending on purchase conditions. A chemical and pump agreement enables the equipment to be provided free of charge, if the chemical is purchased from Intemax for three years. On this basis, a subscription model of £95/month is payable, covering the pump, labour, testing and two to five service visits a year. Outright purchase is also possible.
• Contact: Intemax Sales on 01246 264646, or email sales@intemax.co.uk

4. Parlour hygiene

The next generation of Oxi-Tech’s chemical-free disinfectant system incorporates a cloud platform that aggregates data including SCC and Bactoscan readings, water quality and parlour cleaning diagnostics into a single dashboard.

This allows operators to identify hygiene trends, track wash performance and spot rising infection risk.

It can be connected via wi-fi or 4G/5G and is a fully integrated cloud database, meaning it can be linked to other farm management systems.

The existing Pulse Oxidation system works by applying a controlled electrical pulse that energises dissolved oxygen in water, generating a short-lived but highly effective oxidising species.

This does away with up to 90% of hot water use in cleaning-in-place routines, significantly reducing energy, chemical and handling costs.

It is already working on farms in the UK, mainland Europe and the US, and it is compatible with Lely, GEA and DeLaval robotic parlours, as well as conventional herringbone and rotary setups.

Return on investment modelling suggests most farms see a three- to five-year payback, shortened further when supported by relevant grant assistance, according to Oxi-Tech.

• Price: Free upgrade for existing users; £30,000-£35,000 for new users
• Contact: Stuart Adams on 07931 439525,  or Paul Morrison on 07713 985 680

5. Pulsator line

Pearson Milking Technology’s fully tiered pulsator line brings intelligent monitoring to a component that has traditionally been purely mechanical.

The new Titan Smart Pulsator offers twin pulsation alongside intelligent self-diagnostics, including artificial intelligence-driven monitoring, vacuum leak detection and service interval tracking for early identification of potential issues.

This reduces downtime, safeguards valuable assets, and protects overall herd health, according to the company, adding that industry estimates suggest poorly performing pulsators contribute to more than 5% of mastitis cases.

Four models are available – Pulse, Pro, Elite and Echo – with an increasing number of features.

Pulse has a service-interval counter, solid-state monitoring board, and LED warning indicators (similar to a car dashboard) to signal maintenance needs or emerging faults.

Elite also includes an embedded vacuum sensor, giving real-time feedback on teat-liner vacuum integrity.

This can detect liner or milk-tube bursts or airline faults – issues that often go unnoticed until they cause teat injury or suboptimal milking.

Echo adds an acoustic diagnostic system that monitors the sound of pulsation in real time, comparing each milking to a learned baseline pattern.

If the system detects irregularities such as worn diaphragms, sticking valves or vacuum fluctuations, it flags a warning.

Alerts are fed into Pearson’s Vision herd management software, giving both orange (caution) and red (stop milking) warnings to avoid subclinical issues that may otherwise contribute to mastitis.

• Price: Final costs still under evaluation
• Contact: Ross Pearson on 00 353 59 863 1148, or email info@pearsonmilking.com