TECHNOLOGIES IN PRECISION LIVESTOCK FARMING: A BRIEF REVIEW
Moushumi Bharali
Intern batch, Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University,
Lakhimpur, Assam-787051
Email: moushumibharali.2016@gmail.com
Abstract
Precision agriculture also referred to as smart farming first originated in the United States of America during 1980s. This technique of agriculture has the potential to contribute to the broader goal of meeting the general public demand for food whilst ensuring the sustainability of primary production. Precision livestock farming (PLF) is similar to precision crop farming is based on the use of advanced technologies to optimize the contribution of each animal. Technological advances in Precision Livestock farming include monitoring of animals, virtual fencing etc for more effective management of the animals. Proper knowledge and use of technologies could help to get a better understanding of aspects of the welfare of the animal thus promoting the economy of the society as a whole.
Introduction
Precision agriculture (PA) also referred to as smart farming may be defined as “the application of recent information technologies to provide, process and analyze multisource data of high spatial and temporal resolution for decision making and operations in the management of crop production” (National Research Council, 1997).
The concept of precision farming first originated in the United States of America during the 1980s. Professor Pierre C. Robert who is considered the father of precision farming defined it as “precision farming is not just the injection of new technologies but it is rather an information revolution made possible by new technologies that result in a higher level, a more precise farm management system.” This technique of agriculture has the potential to contribute to the broader goal of meeting the general public demand for food whilst ensuring the sustainability of primary production, supported by a more precise and resource-efficient approach to production management by application of information technology (IT) and satellite-based technology to spot, analyze and manage the special and temporal variability of agronomic parameters (e.g., soil, disease, nutrient water, etc.). However, it’s not just cropped and fruit farming that has benefitted from PA technologies farmers engaged in livestock rearing also are experiencing the positive benefits of this technology (Antonio et al., 2021). Precision livestock farming (PLF) like that precision crop farming is also based on the use of advanced technologies to optimize the contribution of each animal.
Precision Livestock Farming (PLF)
PLF is defined as “individual management by continuous real-time monitoring of health, welfare, production/reproduction, and environmental impact” (Berckmans, 2017). The term ‘precision livestock farming’ first appeared in the early 21st century, with the primary PLF conference held in 2003 as an innovative production system approach, playing a key role in the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. It helps the farmers to enhance their decision management by tracking enormous animals as ‘per animal’ and detecting small but significant changes in behavioral patterns or unrelated parameters through automated monitoring devices like sensor cameras, microphones, Internet access, and wireless communication networks, as well as other computer software programs. In addition to enhancing farm profitability, efficiency, and sustainability by improving livestock management, PLF also aims to boost the management of crop processes to create a perfect synergy with livestock farming.
Currently, PLF is principally developed for intensive farming systems, especially indoors, where farm structures and facilities are well suited to incorporate modern digitization. However, it can even be incorporated into pasture management systems, especially during seasonal grazing, when farmers’ control of livestock is often difficult due to the physical scale of pasture-based systems, variability, the density of the feed base, and remoteness.
Technological advancements in PLF
The various technological advancements and research which have contributed to the novel management practices of livestock are discussed below :
- Monitoring of animal
Proper monitoring of the grazing behaviour of an animal ensures successful grazing and pastures management and also minimizes labour and time consumption. This can be done by the utilization of worldwide Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or Remote Sensing (RS) techniques, which allows the characterization of grazing behaviour including grazing patterns, paths, and favoured areas. Also, tracking devices like GPS ‘collars’ for livestock has helped in understanding and recording the detailed position data for extended periods of time, thus allowing for a more complete understanding of the habits and causes of the spatial distribution of ruminants. More recently, GPS-collared cattle were used to model spatial patterns of phosphorus depletion and accumulation in mountain pastures during summer grazing. Certain modern devices like accelerometers for monitoring cattle movements, determination of lame and non-lame cows; face detection and recognition methods like VGG-face model, fisher faces, etc. are also in use.
- Animal identification
Apart from the classical identification methods (e.g., ear nothing, ear tattooing, branding), nowadays, electronic methods like radio frequency identification tags (RFID) which involves boluses, ear tags, and injectable ear tags. RFID offers a straightforward and affordable way to identify, track, and monitor livestock, thus improving the traceability of animals along the supply chain. They can be used to identify the individuals, but their recognition as an official identification system depends on the country.
iii. Animal Health and welfare
Proper monitoring of health issues for detection of early clinical signs and diseases on the farm is one of the key issues from which PLF has risen. Technologies such as sensors, AI, and machine learning can be used to detect the abnormalities and prevent disease outbreaks. Diseases like coccidiosis in poultry can be predicted by air sensors by monitoring the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the air; the chance of mastitis in cows can even be reduced by using automated sensors and algorithms.
- Animal feed and live weight management
Precision feeding to boost the performance of per animal is a key component of PLF. So, accurate and automatic measurement of the amount of feed to be used per day per animal or distinct group of animals is extremely important; this can be done by implementation of automatic feeding systems (AFS), RGB – D cameras, advanced algorithms, mathematical nutrition models which will be helpful for the farmers to accurately measure the feed intake and also correctly estimate the contribution of ruminants to greenhouse.
Accurate measurement of body weight is additionally vital for livestock farms. For this, several new techniques have come up to replace the weighing scale system which is stressful as well as time-consuming, for e.g., the Walk – over – weigh (WOW) platform for dairy industry has been developed which consists of a specially designed crate on which the animal walks, allowing the body mass to be estimated using continuous average techniques (Brown et al., 2015).
- Milking systems
Nowadays, the automated milking system (AMS) has been adopted to enhance and increase the economy of the dairy farms. The animal will be milked whenever it chooses to be milked with the help of milking robots, applicable both to indoor and outdoor systems.
- Animal location and prevention of livestock theft
In many parts of the globe, GPS devices like GPS collars, GPS coupled with the global system for mobile communication (GSM) has been used to prevent cattle theft and to detect its location (Tangorra et al., 2013). Recently, UAVs have also been proposed for monitoring and tracking of animals in extensive pastures. GPS can also help prevent the predation of grazing livestock.
vii. Virtual fencing
It is a recently implemented system which aims at controlled grazing of the animal (Aquilani et al., 2022). This system comprises of collars with a GPS tracker and a battery-powered device. Here, the normal fencing is replaced by an acoustic stimulus which administers an electrical shock to an animal if it tries to cross the boundaries. However, due to animal welfare concerns, audio cue has been used but the effectiveness was poor, so nowadays, an another audio delivery device embedded in collars or harnesses have been used to recall animals towards a feed attractant, thus assisting the farmer in grouping the animals for better management.
Conclusion
The main purpose of PLF is to boost the farm profitability, efficiency and sustainability. Incorporation of this system will reduce the duration and severity of diseases and injuries livestock farms, and can increase the total productivity, farm incomes, overall health of an animal. However, although there have been many advancements in the technologies devised for PLF, the farmers especially in the developing countries do not have adequate knowledge regarding the equipments for incorporating the PLF technology on a significant scale. Keeping in view of the current scenario in these developing countries, there is a need of a service sector that will be able to – take care of technology components, interpret data captured by sensors, formulate and send simple, relevant advice to farmers on a regular basis, and involve users in technology developments. Proper knowledge and use of such technologies could help getting a better understanding of aspects of welfare of the animal thus promoting the economy of the society as a whole.
References
https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/artificial-intelligenceai-future-of-livestock-farming-in-india/
Antonio M., Sergio S., Pedros G. 2021: Precision Agriculture for Crop and Livestock Farming – Brief Review. Animals, 11: 2345
Aquilani, C., Confessore, A., Bozzi, R., Sirtori, F and Pugliese C. 2022: Review: Precision Livestock Farming Technologies in pasture- based livestock systems. Animals, 16: 100429
Berckmans, D. 2017: General introduction to Precision Livestock Farming. Animal Frontiers, 7: 6-7
Brown, D., Savage, J., Hinch, G. N., Hatcher, S. 2015: Monitoring live weight in sheep is a valuable management strategies: A review of available technologies. Animal Production Science, 55, 427-436
Tangorra. F.M., Calancate, A., Nava, S., Marchesi, G., Lazzari, M. 2013: Design and testing of GPS/GSM collar prototype to combat cattle rustling. Journal o Agricultural Engineering, 44, 71-76
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/8/2345
