Precision livestock farming (PLF) is a set of electronic tools for managing

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

. It involves automated monitoring of animals to improve their production/reproduction, health and welfare, and impact on the environment. PLF tracks large animals, such as cows, "per animal"; however, it tracks animals like

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

"per flock". The whole flock in a house is tracked as one animal, especially in

broilers A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaughte ...

. PLF technologies include

cameras A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

microphones A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

, and other

sensors A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

for tracking livestock, as well as

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

. The results can be quantitative, qualitative and/or addressing

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

Goals

PLF involves the monitoring of each individual animal, or the use of objective measurements on the animals, using

signal analysis Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as sound, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniques are used to optimize transmissions, di ...

algorithms and statistical analysis. These techniques are applied in part with the goal of regaining an advantage of older, smaller-scale farming, namely detailed knowledge of individual animals. Before large farms became the norm, most farmers knew each of their animals by name. Moreover, a farmer could typically point out who the parents were and sum up other important characteristics. Each animal was approached as an individual. In the past three decades, farms have multiplied in scale, with highly automated processes for feeding and other tasks. Consequently, farmers currently are forced to work with many more animals to make their living out of livestock farming and work with average values per group. Variety has become an impediment to increasing

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

. Using

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

, farmers can record numerous attributes of each animal, such as pedigree, age, reproduction, growth, health, feed conversion, killing out percentage (

carcass weight Dressed weight (also known as dead weight or carcass weight) refers to the weight of an animal after being partially butchered, removing all the internal organs and oftentimes the head as well as inedible (or less desirable) portions of the tail a ...

as percentage of its live weight) and meat quality.

Animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

, infection,

aggression Aggression is overt or covert, often harmful, social interaction with the intention of inflicting damage or other harm upon another individual; although it can be channeled into creative and practical outlets for some. It may occur either reacti ...

, weight, feed and water intake are variables that today can be monitored by PLF.

Culling In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...

can now be done on the basis of reproduction values, plus killing out percentage, plus meat quality, plus health. The result is significantly higher reproduction outcomes, with each newborn also contributing to a higher meat value. In addition to these economic goals, precision livestock farming supports societal goals: food of high quality and general safety, animal farming that is efficient but also sustainable, animal health and well-being, and a small ecological footprint of livestock production.Daniel Berckmans
Automatic On-Line Monitoring of Animals by Precision Livestock
''International Society for Animal Hygiène'' - Saint-Malo - 2004

Economic livestock farming

Due to academic studies, the requirements of an animal are well known for each phase of its life and individual physical demands. These requirements allow the precise preparation of an optimal feed to support the animal. The requirements are oriented on the required

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

– providing more nutrition than required make no economic sense, but providing less nutrients can be negative to the health of the animal.Gene M. Pesti, Bill R. Miller
Animal feed formulation: economics and computer applications
Springer, 1993 -

Quality and safety

Economic goals are an important factor in livestock farming, but not the only one. Legal bodies (such as the government and industrial bodies) set quality standards that are legally binding to any livestock producing company. In addition, societal standards are followed.Frank T. Jones
Quality Control in Feed Manufacturing
''Feedstuffs Reference Issue and Buyers'' - 2001 'Quality' in this context includes: * the quality of used ingredients * the quality of animal keeping * the quality of the processes One example for issues with quality of ingredients is the (nowadays often illegal) use of

meat and bone meal Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a product of the rendering industry. It is typically about 48–52% protein, 33–35% ash, 8–12% fat, and 4–7% water. It is primarily used in the formulation of animal feed to improve the amino acid profile of t ...

for ruminant animals.

Ecological livestock farming

Selecting the "right" ingredients can have a positive effect on the environment

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

. It has been shown that optimizing the feed this can reduce nitrogen and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

found in the excrements of pigs.Mark S. Honeyman
Environment-friendly swine feed formulation to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus excretion
''American Journal of Alternative Agriculture'' - Volume 8, pp. 128-132 - 1993

Tools

PLF starts with consistently collecting information about each animal. For this, there are several technologies: unique ID, electronic wearables to identify illness and other issues, software, cameras, etc. Each animal requires a unique number (typically by means of an

ear tag An ear tag is a plastic or metal object used for identification of domestic livestock and other animals. If the ear tag uses Radio Frequency Identification Device ( RFID) technology it is referred to as an electronic ear tag. Electronic ear ta ...

). This can be utilized through a visual ID, passive electronic ID tag or even an active electronic ID tag. For example, at birth, the farmer selects "Birth" from the menu on the reader, after which the interactive screen requests the user to read the tag of the mother. Next, tags are inserted in the ears of newborns and read. With this simple action, important information is recorded, such as: *who is the mother *how many siblings did she deliver *what is the gender of each sibling *what is the date of birth Electronic wearables such as an active smart ear tag can get data from individual animals such as temperature and activity patterns. This data can be utilized in identification of illness,

heat stress Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme ...

, oestrous, etc. This enables individualized care for the animals and methods to lower

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

upon them. The end result is judicious use of drug treatments and

to bolster healthy growth. This provides livestock producers with the tools to identify sick animals sooner and more accurately. This early detection leads to reduction in costs by lowering re-treatment rate and death loss, and getting animals back to peak performance faster. Data recorded by the farmer or collected by sensors is then gathered by software. Although there has been software used that was run on a single computer, it has become more common for the software to connect to the internet, so that much of the

data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of ''information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an ...

can happen on a remote

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

. Having the software connected to the internet can also make it easier to look up information about a particular animal. Due to high computational requirements, PLF requires computer-supported tools. The following types (available for PCs and via Internet) are available: * Induction/processing software applications (a necessity for use with electronic active ID tags) * Automated livestock administration software * Reproduction optimization software * Feed formulation software *

Quality management Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only ...

software

Examples in different industries

Dairy Industry

Robotic Milkers

Automatic milking Automatic milking is the milking of dairy animals, especially of dairy cattle, without human labour. Automatic milking systems (AMS), also called voluntary milking systems (VMS), were developed in the late 20th century. They have been commerciall ...

, a robotic milker can be used for precision management of

dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species ''Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was mad ...

. The main advantages are time savings, greater production, a record of valuable information, and diversion of abnormal milk. There are many brands of robots available including Lely, DeLavel.

Automatic Feeders

An automatic feeder is a tool used to automatically provide feed to

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. It is composed of a robot (either on a rail system or self-propelled) that will feed the cattle at designated times. The robot mixes the feed ration and will deliver the correct amount.

Activity Collars

Activity collars are like fitbits for cows. Some wearable devices help farmers with estrous detection as well as other adverse health events or conditions.

Inline Milk Sensors

Inline milk sensors help farmers identify variation of components in the milk. Some sensors are relatively simple technologies that measure properties like

electrical conductivity Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...

. Other devices use automated sampling and

reagents In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

to provide a different measure to inform management decisions.

Meat Industry

EID / RFID / Electronic Identification / Electronic Ear Tags

Radio Frequency ID (commonly known as RFID or EID) is applied in cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer and other types of livestock for individual identification. In more and more countries, RFID or EID is mandatory for certain species. For example,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

has made EID compulsory for cattle, as has

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for deer, and the EU for sheep and goats. EID makes identification of individual animals much less error-prone. This enhances traceability, but it also provides other benefits such as reproduction tracking (pedigree, progeny and productivity), automatic weighing and drafting.

Smart Ear Tags

Cattle hide their symptoms of illness from humans due to their predatory response. The result is that illness is detected late and not very accurately utilizing conventional methods. Smart cattle ear tags get behavioural and biometric data from cattle 24 hours a day/7 days a week allowing managers to see the exact animals that need more attention regarding their health. This is effective in identifying illness earlier and more accurately than visual observation allows.

Swine Industry

There are many tools available to closely monitor animals in the swine industry. Size is an important factor in swine production.

Automated Weight Detection Cameras

Automated weight detection cameras can be used to calculate the pig's weight without a scale. These cameras can have an accuracy of less than 1.5 kilograms.

Microphones to Detect Respiratory Problems

In the swine industry, the presence of respiratory problems must be closely monitored. There are multiple

pathogens In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

that can cause infection, however,

enzootic pneumonia Pasteurellosis is an infection with a species of the bacterial genus ''Pasteurella'', which is found in humans and other animals. ''Pasteurella multocida'' ( subspecies ''P. m. septica'' and ''P. m. multocida'') is carried in the mouth and respi ...

is one of the most common respiratory diseases in pigs caused by '' Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae'' and other bacteria. This is an airborne disease that can be easily spread due to the proximity of the pigs in the herd. Early detection is important in using fewer

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

and minimising economic loss due to appetite loss of pigs. A common symptom of this is chronic coughing. A microphone can be used to detect the sound of coughing in the herd and raise an alert to the farmer.

Climate Control

Thermal stress In mechanics and thermodynamics, thermal stress is mechanical stress created by any change in temperature of a material. These stresses can lead to fracturing or plastic deformation depending on the other variables of heating, which include mater ...

is connected to reduced performance, illness, and mortality. Depending on geographical location, and the types of animals will require different heating or ventilation systems. Broilers, laying hens, and piglets like to be kept warm. Sensors can be used to constantly receive data about the climate control in the livestock houses and the automatic feeding systems. The behaviour of animals can also be monitored.

Poultry Industry

In the poultry industry, unfavourable climate conditions increase the chances of behavioural, respiratory, and digestive disorders in the birds. Thermometers should be used to ensure proper temperatures, and animals should be closely monitored for signs of unsatisfactory climate.

Quantitative Methods, towards scientifically based management of livestock farming

The development of quantitative methods for livestock production includes mathematical modelling based in plant-herbivore or

predator-prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

models to forecast and optimise meet production. An example is the ''Predator-Prey Grassland Livestock Model'' (PPGL) to address the dynamics of the combined grass-animals system as a predator-prey dynamical system. This PPGL model has been used to simulate the effect of

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

deficiency on the farm's economic performance.{{Cite journal, last1=Dieguez, first1=Francisco, last2=Fort, first2=Hugo, date=2019, title=An application of a dynamical model with ecological predator-prey approach to extensive livestock farming in uruguay: Economical assessment on forage deficiency, journal=Journal of Dynamics & Games, language=en, volume=6, issue=2, pages=119, doi=10.3934/jdg.2019009, doi-access=free

References

Livestock Sustainable agriculture Agriculture-related lists