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Agriculture · head to head

DTN Agriculture vs SMARTBOW

DTN Agriculture logo

DTN Agriculture

Agriculture

Weather, markets, and agronomic insights

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: DTN Agriculture pricing is not published for any product; 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: DTN Agriculture covers Hyper-local weather, SMARTBOW covers Real-time location.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DTN Agriculture and SMARTBOW actually diverge.

Attributes where DTN Agriculture and SMARTBOW differ
AttributeDTN AgricultureSMARTBOW
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWindows, Web, iOS, Android
Founded1984Unknown

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 DTN Agriculture

  • Hyper-local weather
  • Market data
  • Spray conditions
  • GDD tracking
  • Alerts
  • Farm platforms
  • Equipment systems
  • SOC 2

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.

DTN Agriculture

  • Commodity market data and analysis for grain tradersnot SMARTBOW
  • Weather and agronomic modelling through ClearAgnot SMARTBOW
  • Grain origination and merchandisingnot SMARTBOW
  • Market intelligence for ag retailers and input suppliersnot SMARTBOW
  • Field-level decision support for growersnot SMARTBOW

SMARTBOW

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

Where each one falls short

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

DTN Agriculture

  • Pricing is not published for any product
  • A wide portfolio, including ProphetX, ClearAg, MyDTN and Instant Market, so the relevant product depends on whether you are a grower, a trader or a grain processor
  • Aimed mostly at the commercial agriculture chain rather than at individual farms

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

DTN Agriculture

$29/month
  • Progressive Farmer$399/year
    • Weather
    • Markets
    • Basic tools
  • Premium$999/year
    • Advanced weather
    • Full markets
    • Agronomy tools

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 DTN Agriculture if

  • You need hyper-local weather.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want market data.
DTN Agriculture 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 DTN Agriculture or SMARTBOW better?
Neither clearly leads. DTN Agriculture 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, DTN Agriculture or SMARTBOW?
DTN Agriculture starts at $29/month and SMARTBOW at On request.
Does DTN Agriculture or SMARTBOW run on more platforms?
DTN Agriculture runs on Web, Ios, Android. SMARTBOW runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
What is DTN Agriculture best used for?
DTN Agriculture is most often used for commodity market data and analysis for grain traders, weather and agronomic modelling through clearag, grain origination and merchandising, market intelligence for ag retailers and input suppliers. Of those, commodity market data and analysis for grain traders and weather and agronomic modelling through clearag are not what SMARTBOW is typically brought in for.
What can DTN Agriculture do that SMARTBOW cannot?
DTN Agriculture covers Hyper-local weather, Market data, Spray conditions, GDD tracking. SMARTBOW covers Real-time location, Heat detection, Rumination monitoring, Health alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DTN Agriculture: How do I get DTN agriculture solution pricing?

DTN agriculture, weather, and refined fuels solutions do not display pricing on their main agriculture page. Contact DTN's sales team using the form on their website or visit specific product pages to request pricing information.

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.

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.

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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