6 innovative livestock management trends in 2023
by Jenny Alonge
As the global population continues to expand, livestock producers must find ways to meet the growing demand without compromising their animals’ welfare or suffering financial losses. Many producers are beginning to navigate this situation with advancing technological management strategies that can improve global food security and sustainability and preserve animal welfare. We describe six innovative livestock management trends and highlight the companies working on emerging technologies to advance the field.
#1: Livestock health management
Early disease detection improves the animal’s prognosis and helps prevent productivity losses. Technologies that help producers continuously monitor livestock health can improve disease diagnostic efficiency. Innovators in this field include:
- CattleEye — CattleEye is a hardware independent autonomous livestock monitoring platform. The technology uses security cameras to monitor mobility and body condition as cows leave the milking parlor, and then uses artificial intelligence to analyze the footage, eliminating the need for collars and pedometers. CattleEye provides valuable insights that allow farmers to take the necessary actions to improve livestock welfare and prevent production losses.
- Moonsyst — Moonsyst is a Smart rumen monitoring system that is administered as a bolus designed to stay in the reticulum for the animal’s lifetime. The bolus is uniquely identified with the animal and provides information such as rumen temperature and pH, health conditions, water intake, heat status, and the beginning of calving.
#2: Farm automation
Automated farming technology addresses problems such as worker shortages and improves farm efficiency. Innovators in this field include:
- FarrPro — FarrPro produces revolutionary products to create a perfect microclimate for piglets. Their unified production system improves animal welfare, reduces energy use, improves cost efficiency, and provides traceability by precisely controlling heat, airflow, water cleanliness, and light intensity.
- PharmRobotics — PharmRobotics developed Sureshot, a patented robotic health center, which uses radio frequency identification (RFID) and camera ID readers to identify cows needing vaccinations and reproduction injections. The system uses a robotic arm that administers up to three vaccines and reproduction products and records the information in the dairy management software. Managers can track each individual’s health record, so labor expenses are eliminated and compliance rates are improved.
Pastoral delivers information about animal health, weather feeding advice and fine-scale animal management strategies to farmers.
FarmSee's system reduces production costs and improves pigs’ welfare.
#3: Reproductive technologies
Reproductive technologies improve genetics, thus increasing farm productivity and improving livestock industry sustainability. Innovators in this field include:
Acceligen — Acceligen is the agricultural division of Recombinetics and specializes in genome editing, which uses a naturally occurring enzyme system to induce an intentional genomic alteration in a recently fertilized egg. Genome editing allows for precise genetic changes in as little as one generation, and produces animals with more desirable genes and traits.
Ongo Vettech — Ongo Vettech makes a portable computer-assisted semen analyzer that accurately measures semen concentration and motility in many species, including poultry, bulls, boars, horses, rams, and dogs. The system can quickly analyze fresh, cooled, and thawed semen samples, so producers can make timely breeding decisions. In addition, semen quality issues can be addressed as soon as possible.
#4: Precision livestock farming
Precision livestock farming considers each animal and its specific environmental reactions to increase animal productivity, improve animal wellbeing, and reduce environmental impact. The system uses satellites and ground-based sensors to monitor and manage livestock in real time, and alerts the farmer instantly when problems arise. Innovators in this field include:
Pastoral — Pastoral is a precision regenerative livestock farming platform that provides data for dairy producers. The platform delivers information about animal health, weather-based precision feeding advice, and fine-scale animal management strategies to farmers, so they can improve their livestock capacity and efficiency while reducing operational costs.
FarmSee — FarmSee developed a camera-based weighing sensor that allows pig producers to weigh their animals without human interference. This information then can be used to decide when to evacuate pigs to slaughter to increase meat quality and volume, and when to switch food compositions to minimize food conversion ratio and avoid overweight penalties.
Hencol — Hencol’s weigh station, which beef cattle automatically pass as they move around their environment, uses algorithms to provide valuable information about future growth, dates when target weight will be achieved, and more.
#5: Antibiotic resistance solutions
Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem for livestock producers, who need animal treatments that do not use antibiotics to reduce the problem. Innovators in this field include:
Armenta — Armenta developed the first non-antibiotic treatment for bovine mastitis, using acoustic pulse technology (APT). The technology provides a non-invasive, painless mastitis treatment, and has demonstrated a 70% cure rate and 10% milk yield increase.
General Probiotics — General Probiotics uses synthetic biology and artificial intelligence to develop cellbots and antimicrobial probiotics to eliminate harmful pathogens and reduce the current dependency on antibiotics.
#6: Biosafety surveillance
Biosafety surveillance is critical to prevent pathogen spread, and technology can help preserve a farm’s sanitary status. Innovators in this field include:
H2Oalert — H2Oalert is a wireless real-time water control management system for dairy and beef cattle. The water is checked 24/7 for contamination, and when the water is unsuitable, an alarm is triggered on the monitoring system app alerting that the animals’ drinking water needs cleaning.
Micron Agritech — Micron Agritech allows veterinarians and farmers to test animals for parasites on-site. Artificial intelligence is used to process the samples and generate rapid, consistent, and accurate results through their mobile app.
Advances in livestock technology help improve animal welfare, increase productivity, and reduce the strain on the environment for a more sustainable industry.
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