Technology has many definitions and means something different to all people depending on their needs.
Precision agriculture gained momentum with the development and use of global positioning system (GPS) technology. Now, there’s a new kid on the block. It’s called precision livestock farming; it isn’t a thing of the future. It is already upon us. Precision livestock farming relies on animal technology, which is the technical means to collect, analyze and interpret a wide range of metrics on animals for the purpose of research, production, management or wellbeing.
The term now being used for most animal technologies and sensors is “wearable technology.” Wearable technology has become critically important for monitoring animal health. The correct sensors and technologies, when coupled with data analytics and communication, can provide real-time information and diagnoses of animals. Sensors and wearable technologies can be deployed, fitted or implanted on animals to measure body temperature or mass, observe behavior and movement, detect stress, analyze sound, monitor health, and many other things.
Tracking individual animals
The development of animal-based technologies began with individual cow identification, which started as visual ear tags then progressed to electronic identification (EID) tags, making EID tags one of the oldest wearable technologies. EID tags incorporate many different technologies, but most are passive tags, meaning they require another device (for example, a wand, data logger, tablet, etc.) to read the identification number and/or information from the tag.
The next type of tracking devices is much more accurate but much more costly and used primarily for research purposes. GPS collars are actually receivers that receive signals from satellites to aid in positioning, navigation and timing. If you have a smartphone, it likely is GPS-enabled so you don’t get lost. GPS collars are a standard technology for the study of wildlife but also are deployed on livestock, mostly beef cattle. GPS collars can help collect information on activity, behavior, bedding/resting locations, habitat use, grazing site preference, migration, energy expenditure and more.
Despite the relatively high price tag of GPS collars, there are new systems being developed to control grazing of livestock. These new systems are known as virtual fences and require precise positioning from GPS collars to keep animals inside an invisible fence. Having an invisible fence and a collar to condition animals using sound and/or mild electric shocks to stay within a designated area negates the need for physical fences, which are costly and require maintenance. The application of virtual fences is still in its infancy with a few companies leading the way, and the future of this technology is unknown until more testing and validation is done.
Physical measurements of animals
Taking physical measurements of animals has been a standard practice for assessing health, growth and success of management programs. The two most frequently collected pieces of information are body weight and temperature, and, with just these two measurements, a wealth of information is waiting to be unlocked.
Collecting body weight is standard for any production operation or for research, especially when linked to other data such as age, reproductive status or environmental variables. Typically, livestock are run through chutes to collect body weight, but this is done at irregular or long intervals. To start understanding individual animals and their feed efficiency, new systems have been developed to take body weight more frequently. These systems include GrowSafe Systems Feed and GrowSafe Beef in pen weighing technology and the Tru-Test walk-over-weighing platform and system, which collect body weight multiple times per day and attribute the data into a unique animal based on an EID tag.
Just like taking our own body temperature, taking the temperature of animals can provide an indicator of their wellbeing. Change in body temperature is one of the first symptoms of a body fighting an illness, an indicator of health. Collecting an animal’s temperature can be done by traditional means such as using a rectal thermometer, but, with advances in technology, devices such as a rumen bolus or e-pill, muscular thermosensors, or tympanic (ear) or under-skin temperature sensors can provide automatic data collection. For example, a rumen bolus is swallowed by an animal, then sits in the reticulum and transmits data to a receiving unit using lower power radio frequencies. A rumen bolus may also be able to measure heart rate, respiration, rumination or rumen pH, but many of these applications are still being tested. Some applications of monitoring body temperature include assessing heat stress or energy expenditure and predicting when an animal is in heat.
The future
The future is now. Technology is developing at an astonishing rate, especially for military and industry needs. The development and adoption of technology for agriculture or animals has lagged behind. However, it is predicted that technology developed specifically for agriculture will increase 2.5 times by 2025. It is very likely that mobile or smart devices will play a critical role. Other opportunities to expand technology to agriculture and animal operations include the miniaturization of devices and development of low-power or solar-powered devices. To have the greatest impact, the data collected from these devices will need to undergo well-designed research and validation that leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing to process the data into a usable format so users can make sound decisions. — By Stephen Webb, Noble Research Institute staff scientist
