Article Summary:
Satellite technologies in the agriculture sector have been established in arable and extensive livestock grazing businesses. It has already been proved that technology is changing the world of livestock management and monitoring. However, recent developments in technologies offer advances that intensive livestock operations can benefit from.
The farmers of agricultural farms manage and monitor different types of livestock. Moreover, as they do not stay at fixed locations, therefore the manual inspection and tracking of animals are time-consuming. Fencing them requires a reasonable cost and involves farmer’s physical interference to stop them from crossing beyond the access points. Visual tracking of livestock and fencing is a challenging job. Below are some points covering the whole concept of how livestock can be monitored through the modern technological system.
SENSING DEVICES
Livestock farming operations often have small land footprints, sensing imagery can be used for many purposes, such as site mapping and pasture monitoring. Currently, aerial vehicles known as drones generally provide higher-resolution images than satellites for farms with small footprints. However, livestock can be monitored through sensing devices, this can help farmers or business people to know their location and track them easily. Furthermore, they can even find out whether the livestock is healthy or not, just by checking their movements or activities through the device or app. Moreover, satellite remote sensing may become a cost-effective alternative to drones for intensive livestock operations.
(RFID) TECHNOLOGY IN LIVESTOCK MONITORING
RFID tech is developing across a large number of industries, including livestock. Using RFID for livestock monitoring is becoming the norm rather than the exception. This technology has many implementations, such as animals being tagged for purposes such as disease control, breeding management, and also stock management.
Before the technology farmers were using metal ID tags to identify their animals, but RFID tags have replaced metal tags because of their advanced technology. Metal ID tags were more time-consuming than RFID tags and prone to error.
RFID tags are more durable than traditional metal tags. They’re read electronically rather than visually, which takes human error out of the process. The tags do not require animals to stand completely still for them to be read, which opens up options for reading them—animals can be scanned in the field, during feeding, in the chute, or anywhere they happen to be.
ADVANTAGES OF RFID TECHNOLOGY
RFID technology has a competitive advantage over those who continue to use other traditional monitoring methods. It provides several important benefits, some of which are listed below:
- Time and labour savings
- Identification of diseased animals
- Accurate monitoring of cattle inventory
- Animals authentication
Any disease that outbreaks in animals can be quickly detected and livestock can be treated accordingly.
NETWORKING
Satellite connectivity is helpful for farmers in remote areas that do not have good access to local internet or mobile networks. Internet connectivity is important to facilitate the use of these connected services. However, when faced with poor connectivity through copper wire or no connectivity, all of the potential benefits are lost. With high-speed Satellite Internet connectivity, these valuable assets become immediately without any additional investment in traditional infrastructure. There are a variety of sensors that can improve the profitability of an intensive livestock operation if there is available connectivity to transmit data.
Sensors are able to monitor:
- Temperature in sheds
- Animal movement and health
- Water quality in ponds
- Amount of water in tanks
- Amount of feed in silos.
Furthermore, virtual fencing provides a flexible approach to farming, keeping livestock away from dangerous poisonous weeds, or avoiding areas where the grass is under stress to allow it to re-grow in a particular safe zone or field.
WIRELESS SENSORS TO TRACK LIVESTOCK MOVEMENTS
IoT monitoring software provides an array of advantages and security features that can significantly improve livestock operations. Animal identification has been made easier with remote monitoring allowing farmers to track their livestock from any location with livestock tracking IoT devices, flexible device integration, and easy implementation at scale with remote device management. Improving the security of livestock assets by reducing theft and lost animals with data collected with livestock tracking devices and tracking software.
LIVESTOCK TRACKING DEVICES FEATURES
- Cellular Global Connectivity
- Environment Stability
- Shelf batteries with battery life monitoring
- Activity/movement update
- Theft recovery
- Latest Geo-fencing
- Inactivity Alerts
- Configure parameters such as heartbeat, accelerometer, etc.
There are many tracking devices developed in the world that can monitor livestock's day-to-day activities, their movements, their healthy state, their disease diagnosis, their body temperature, and pH level that indicates livestock ill-health potential, the sensor can also detect calving session 6-36 hours prior to ensure the safe delivery of a healthy animal.
CONCLUSION
When it comes to livestock tracking, their health is one of the significant global issues for many farmers. Many modern farm developers use innovative approaches such as biosensors for livestock health management. Moreover, they are working for accurate health measurement results and disease diagnosis. Precision livestock farming techniques including a wide span of technologies are being applied, along with advanced technologies like microfluidics, sound analyzers, image detection techniques, sweat, and saliva sensing, and serodiagnosis.
- The Dedicated Team of Pasture.io, 2022-08-30