Fredericton agtech company SomaDetect has announced that the application programing interface, or API, of Valley Agricultural Software, the world’s largest provider of dairy management software, will be integrated into SomaDetect’s technology.

The integration will enable SomaDetect’s software to synchronize with any milking equipment using VAS’s dairy herd management software, DairyComp. Founded in 1981, Tulare, Calif.-based VAS said DairyComp is a solid package of tools used to manage about 60 percent of the cows in the United States.

As a result, the companies said dairy farmers using DairyComp can take advantage of SomaDetect’s technology without needing to replace their existing cow identification systems. Identifying individual cows is a critical step in managing the health of a dairy herd, they said.

“We feel incredibly fortunate to be working with VAS and supporting leading-edge changes in this industry,” said SomaDetect CEO Bethany Deshpande in a statement. “We are supporting dairy as it moves into a new era of data generation, management, integration, collaboration, and insight development that will improve efficiencies and increase profitability for producers.”

Founded in New Brunswick in 2016, SomaDetect has produced a sensor that can provide farmers with daily information on the health of individual cows. This technology captures a variety of data on each cow’s health in real time, so any problems can be addressed quickly. Last month, SomaDetect announced it has been approved for a $3.9 million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.

“VAS is dedicated to being a collaborator in the industry and working closely with fellow innovators,” said Kevin Callihan, Vice-President of Engineering and Product at VAS. “We are proud to continually be part of the modernization of the dairy industry and learn how to help our customers improve their operations.”