As his HiLux ute bumped over hilly farmland outside Armidale, David Lamb kept a hand on the wheel and grabbed an iPad in the other to locate his herd of 50 ''smart'' cows.

Each cow is fitted with a tag in its ear that transmits its location to a digital map of the property.

Pausing briefly to look at the screen, Lamb could see where each cow - represented by a number and an icon - was located on the 2800 hectare farm.

This internet of cows has captured the imagination of farmers and others, said Professor Lamb, professor of physics and precision agriculture at the University of New England, which runs the Kirby SMART [sustainable, manageable and accessible rural technologies] Farm.