For those having withdrawal symptoms over the biennial Agritechnica machinery show, there’s another massive German exhibition happening this year – EuroTier.

It’s the showpiece event for the animal production industry and covers dairy, beef, pigs, poultry, sheep and even aquatics, besides many other niche production systems.

It takes place in Hannover between 15 and 18 November, so there is still time to plan a trip. In the meantime, we have picked out a few interesting items that are set to be launched at next month’s show.

See also: What’s in Your Shed? visits a Herefordshire contractor

Eartag Life

Austria-based cattle equipment company Smartbow has been making eartags for heat detection, rumination and health monitoring for several years.

The manufacturer’s latest invention is the Eartag Life, which can be used for calves from birth because of its low weight (20g). Coupled with a battery that has a life expectancy of six years, it means the animal can be monitored through all stages of production without having to change tags.

A neat integrated LED enables quick identification in case of an alert if there’s a problem or the animal is on heat. 

Kipp Top 2 tipping cattle crush

The Rosensteiner tipping crush has been in production for more than 30 years and there are more than 4,000 units in use on farms across Germany and Austria.

The manufacturer says the new Kipp Top 2 is 50% faster than the old one and has 30% fewer working steps.

This has been achieved by redesigning the catching device and gate, which has been simplified for both the operator and the cow. It is now completely open, without any obstacles on the ground, so as not to stall the animal and to reduce the weight of the crush.

The belt system has been simplified, with belly belts tensioned hydraulically.

There are three models: Basic, with mechanical catching; Comfort, with mechanical catching and pushing gate; and Professional, with mechanical catching and hydraulic pushing gate. Prices start from €8,500 (£7,675).

H2O Alert water sensor

Clean water is essential in any livestock business.

Every litre of milk requires four litres of water, and if it is not clean or at the correct temperature this can affect how much a cow drinks – and how much she yields.

With that in mind, Bekosense has developed the H20 Alert – a novel, floating spaceship-type device that monitors water around the clock, with details of any changes being transmitted directly to the farmer.

It measures the availability (in case there has been a trough leak), the temperature and conductivity, which helps monitor toxin or bacteria levels.

Using a low-power wide area network means the system can transmit data to a range of 2km without having to have a SIM card.

Wicky silage cover system

Wasserbauer is usually known for its automatic feeding and scraping systems, but the Austrian firm is showcasing an automatic system that rolls and unrolls the plastic on silage heaps.

It has been developed to guard against sun, rain and secondary fermentation – and therefore to maintain silage quality. Using 50cm tracked drive units, the machine can be operated via remote control from the cab and can be built up to suit clamps up to 9m wide, with drive units being added or taken off to suit in 0.4m stages.