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Agriculture · head to head

Bushel Farm vs SMARTBOW

Bushel Farm logo

Bushel Farm

Agriculture

All-in-one farm management platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SMARTBOW logo

SMARTBOW

Agriculture

Ear tag cow monitoring with real-time indoor location, from Zoetis

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bushel Farm actual pricing figures not published on website; SMARTBOW real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • They diverge on capability: Bushel Farm covers Field management, SMARTBOW covers Real-time location.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bushel Farm and SMARTBOW actually diverge.

Attributes where Bushel Farm and SMARTBOW differ
AttributeBushel FarmSMARTBOW
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWindows, Web, iOS, Android
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bushel Farm

  • Field management
  • Input tracking
  • Grain marketing
  • Profitability analysis
  • Inventory tracking
  • John Deere
  • Elevator systems
  • Accounting software

Only in SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location
  • Heat detection
  • Rumination monitoring
  • Health alerts
  • On-farm server
  • Individual baselines
  • Herd software integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bushel Farm

  • Field-level profitability and cost of production trackingnot SMARTBOW
  • Grain contract tracking and price alertsnot SMARTBOW
  • Automatic field data import from machinery platformsnot SMARTBOW
  • Rainfall and weather records by fieldnot SMARTBOW
  • Farm records on a phone in the fieldnot SMARTBOW

SMARTBOW

  • A 1,500 cow freestall barn where finding a flagged animal by eye takes twenty minutesnot Bushel Farm
  • A dairy replacing visual heat detection with per-animal oestrus alerts to tighten calving intervalsnot Bushel Farm
  • A herd manager wanting rumination-based early warning of displaced abomasum or metritisnot Bushel Farm
  • A vet practice using behavioural data to audit transition cow management across client herdsnot Bushel Farm

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bushel Farm

  • Actual pricing figures not published on website
  • Vendor mentions subscription tiers named Lite, Essentials, and standard but displays no prices
  • Requires contacting sales or using form to view pricing details

SMARTBOW

  • Real-time location depends on receivers covering the whole barn plus an on-farm server, so the install is a building project and the price bears no relation to what a simple activity collar costs.
  • It is an indoor system; a grazing or partly grazed herd loses the location capability that is the main reason to choose it over cheaper monitoring.
  • Ear tags are consumable and go missing with the tag, so the running cost includes replacements at a rate that depends on how rough your handling facilities are.
  • Zoetis ownership means a pharmaceutical company holds continuous behavioural data on every animal alongside your treatment records, and the integration roadmap favours other Zoetis products.
  • Nothing is published on price, and sales run through veterinary and dealer channels, so comparing it against DeLaval, Nedap or CowManager requires several quotes and there is no reference list price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bushel Farm

$29/month
  • FreeFree
    • Field mapping
    • Activity tracking
    • Basic reports
  • Pro$1500/year
    • Grain marketing
    • Financial tracking
    • Advanced analytics

SMARTBOW

On request
  • SMARTBOW$undefined/year
    • Ear tags priced per animal
    • Barn receiver infrastructure and on-farm server quoted per building
    • Installation and commissioning quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Bushel Farm if

  • You need field management.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want input tracking.
Bushel Farm review

Choose SMARTBOW if

  • You need real-time location.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want heat detection.
SMARTBOW review

Questions people ask

Is Bushel Farm or SMARTBOW better?
Neither clearly leads. Bushel Farm starts at $29/month and SMARTBOW at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bushel Farm or SMARTBOW?
Bushel Farm starts at $29/month and SMARTBOW at On request.
Does Bushel Farm or SMARTBOW run on more platforms?
Bushel Farm runs on Web, Ios, Android. SMARTBOW runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
What is Bushel Farm best used for?
Bushel Farm is most often used for field-level profitability and cost of production tracking, grain contract tracking and price alerts, automatic field data import from machinery platforms, rainfall and weather records by field. Of those, field-level profitability and cost of production tracking and grain contract tracking and price alerts are not what SMARTBOW is typically brought in for.
What can Bushel Farm do that SMARTBOW cannot?
Bushel Farm covers Field management, Input tracking, Grain marketing, Profitability analysis. SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Heat detection, Rumination monitoring, Health alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bushel Farm: What is Bushel's pricing model?

Bushel offers tiered subscription plans called Lite, Essentials, and standard options. Specific pricing is not published on the website and requires requesting a quote.

Source
SMARTBOW: What does SMARTBOW do that other activity monitors do not?

Real-time indoor location. It tells you where the flagged cow physically is, not just that she is behaving abnormally.

Bushel Farm: Does Bushel offer a free trial?

Yes, Bushel provides a 30-day free trial that allows farmers to test all features before committing to a subscription plan.

Source
SMARTBOW: Does it work on grazing herds?

Poorly. Location depends on barn-mounted receivers, so animals out at pasture fall outside the system's coverage.

Bushel Farm: Can I see Bushel's pricing before contacting sales?

No, Bushel does not publish specific pricing tiers, rates, or features online. To view pricing, you must click through to the pricing page or contact the sales team directly.

Source
SMARTBOW: Who owns it?

Zoetis, which also owns Valley Agricultural Software and DairyComp. The technology came from Smartbow GmbH in Austria.

SMARTBOW: Is it cloud based?

Analysis runs on an on-farm server rather than in the cloud, which keeps it working during an internet outage but makes the server your responsibility.

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