A-SHED Project Case Study: Innovate UK Dairy Heat Stress Research
Analysis of Scottish Housed Environments for Dairy
A-SHED is 2-year long research project part funded by Innovate UK, as part of the £1M competitive grant initiative Digital Dairy Chain. This project is co-delivered by Smartbell, Galebreaker, and SRUC, studying how Scottish and Northern English dairy housing performs under real climate pressure. The project pairs on-farm HealTHI monitoring with building science to understand exactly where and when heat stress builds up inside commercial sheds.
Project
A-SHED (2025–2026)
Partners
Smartbell
Galebreaker
Scottish Rural College (SRUC)
Key Finding
Scottish dairy sheds frequently exceed severe heat stress thresholds (THI 74–84). An overnight 5-point THI drop is required for milk yield recovery.
Key objectives of A-SHED.
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Develop Real-Time Tools
Deploy and validate HealTHI monitoring systems across working commercial dairy sheds.
Evaluate Shed Architecture
Measure how ventilation, roofing, and building orientation each affect indoor THI.
Futureproof Infrastructure
Establish climate-adaptive building standards ready for 21st-century UK weather.
Why Heat Stress Monitoring is Urgent for UK Dairy Farms
4–7°C
Projected rise in peak summer temperatures by the 2050s
16x
Increase in consecutive 30°C+ summer days
50%
Of existing UK livestock housing lacks adequate ventilation capacity
The Effects of Heat Stress
Milk Volume
Reduced dry matter intake
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Fertility
Shorter standing heat and early embryonic loss
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Overall Farm Impact
Accumulated heat load and lameness
What is THI (Temperature-Humidity Index) in Cattle Housing?
THI integrates ambient air temperature and relative humidity inside the shed itself — not a regional weather forecast. Two farms in the same postcode can see very different indoor THI depending on ventilation, stocking density, and building design, which is why in-shed monitoring matters more than outdoor conditions alone.
How Smartbell’s HealTHI System Solves This Problem
Developed by Smartbell using time-series analysis and machine learning, HealTHI is a commercial-grade heat stress monitoring platform.
It pairs regional weather modeling with IP65-rated, wireless in-shed sensors to give dairy producers real-time microclimate visibility.
Key Features of the HealTHI System
24/7 Microclimate Dashboards
Live shed-level temperature, humidity, and THI readings, always visible and always current.
Proactive Early Warnings
Alerts fire before THI crosses stress thresholds, giving time to act, not just react.
Zero Shed Wi-Fi Infrastructure
A long-range gateway carries sensor data out of the shed, no in-shed Wi-Fi required.
3-Year Sensor Lifespan
Battery-powered sensors run for years with no shed wiring or recurring maintenance visits.
Audit-Ready Compliance Reporting
Export clean THI records for milk contract audits and farm assurance schemes.
Multi-Shed Farm Coverage
Scale monitoring across every shed on the farm from a single connected gateway network.
What Are The Key Findings from the A-SHED Study
The Importance of Overnight Cooling
Herds need a 5-point overnight THI drop to properly recover milk yield lost during the day’s heat load.
Extreme Indoor THI Spikes
Monitored sheds recorded indoor THI spikes as high as 84 — well beyond severe heat stress thresholds.
Lower Acclimatisation Thresholds in Northern Herds
Northern herds show heat stress symptoms at lower THI values, having adapted to cooler baseline climates.
