Precision Livestock Farming

What is precision livestock farming (PLF)?

the use of technologies to monitor and optimise the performance of individual animals.

How can PLF be done?

through the use of continuous (or often) recording of data on a range of measurements on animals

what 7 things can be measured with animals?

1. Growth (changes in weight over time),

2. yield (milk, eggs),

3. activity/behaviour,

4. fertility/breeding status,

5. welfare/discomfort,

6. physical environment (temperature, humidity),

7. chemical/hormonal composition (milk, blood, sweat).

Are animals managed in groups or individually?

usually managed in groups.

Give 3 examples of when animals are managed in groups?

• a group of ewes given access to the same field for grazing,

• a group of steers administered the same anthelmintic (drench),

• a group of broilers given the same amount of feed per head.

what’s the development rate of animals often influenced by?

The management of the group.

what causes the diverge in the development of animals?

Individual differences such as…

• genetic,

• environmental,

• behavioural,

• circumstantial.

What is the aim of PLF?

to optimise the performance of every animal and prompt actions are important.

what are 3 ways inputs can differ in individual animals and what does this cause?

1. some need more inputs to reach required performance, without, they’ll be further reductions in performance.

2. some can maintain performance with less inputs, meaning over-feeding will lead to more costs and reduced profits.

3. some may have specific problems that need intervention to meet the required performance. Undiagnosed problems lead to reduced performances.

Why is gathering information essential for a good outcome?

To make decisions that work in the time scale you have.

What are the 4 different time scales?

1. immediate,

2. day to day,

3. seasonal,

4. long term (strategic).

what’s an example of an immediate time scale?

a calf will be born in the next hour.

what’s an example of a day to day time scale?

a sow is in the early stages of ill-health.

what’s an example of a seasonal time scale?

a specific sheep is less productive and should be culled.

what’s an example of a long term (strategic) time scale?

‘breed A’ is more productive and profitable than ‘breed B’ and so only ‘breed A’ should be kept.

In immediate decisions, why is time-critical information essential?

so actions can be taken to avert negative outcomes or ensure positive outcomes.

what is needed for time-critical information to be available?

an integrated system with a method of sending data (a message) to notify someone to respond.

what example of PLF is used in Aber?

how often is data recorded?

what does it calculate?

When are farm staff alerted?

1. leg based sensor to identify the direction of the leg.

2. data is recorded every minute.

3. it calculates the number of times a sheep rises and lays down per hour.

4. if times are above a threshold.

How were the thresholds identified? (for the leg sensor)

• observations from CCTV,

• records from shepherds,

• data from sensors,

• data analysis,

• knowledge of which patterns in the data precede to lambing.

What is a commercial example of PLF?

the tail mounted sensor.

what does the tail mounted sensor measure?

tail movement patterns.

when are alerts sent to farmers?

once pre-defined thresholds are reached.

how much warning does the tail mounted sensor give prior to calving?

1 hour

what are 2 benefits of the tail mounted sensor?

1. less time spent monitoring,

2. lower calving related mortalities.

Do family/small scale farms need PLF?

Not as such as there’s often regular close contact with livestock so more chances to see and identify problems early.

Do modern intensive farming systems benefit from PLF?

Yes because there is usually a higher animal to staff ratio which decreases the amount of time spent in close contact with livestock and chances to see problems early.

Why is PLF beneficial for all farms?

‘sub-clinical’ signs are difficult to spot even for the best farmers. (e.g. changes in feeding behaviour days prior to diagnosis by a vet).

what is another commercial example of PLF?

eYeNamic poultry behaviour detection system.

what less often decisions can be influenced by the data provided by PLF?

• breeding decisions,

• feeding decisions,

• management decisions.

what other information can PLF provide?

Information for benchmarking.

what physical characteristics are looked at when deciding whether to keep or cull animals?

• current body condition,

• number of teeth (age),

• condition of reproductive and mammary organs,

what information is used from records to aid decisions on whether to keep or cull animals?

• number of lambs reared,

• historical trends in body condition,

• vet treatment records.

what is benchmarking?

the practice of measuring and comparing the financial and technical performance of a farming business over time (one year to the next), or against other farms.

what are common livestock benchmarking measures for pigs?

kg of meat per piglet reared,

pre-weaning mortality,

what common livestock benchmarking measures are used for dairy cows?

milk yield per cow per year,

calving interval (average days per cow),

common livestock benchmarking measure for poultry?

bird mortality rates (%),

eggs produced per bird,

common livestock benchmarking measures for sheep?

number of lambs per ewe (weaning %),

average lamb growth rate (grams/day),

what indicates anthelmintic resistance and what needs to be done in repsonse?

long-term observed parasite loads in lambs. you need to switch from set stocking to rotational grazing.

what is the best way to record data?

using automatic data capture which offers capability to store large amounts of data with little effort. but it brings about infrastructure costs.

what is crucial for most/all aspects of PLF?

easy and systematic identification of individual animals.

what can be used to identify individual animals?

electronic identification devices (EID), which carries a digital identifier that can be used to store and link animal data within databases.

what data can be user inputed into an EID?

• number of lambs born,

• BCS,

• vet treatments.

what system input data can be found on an EID?

• weights from automatic weight crate,

• yields (dairy cows),

• feed intake.

what benefits are there for managing livestock as individuals?

potential to…

• minimise costs,

• increase productivity,

• reduce pollution,

• get better profits

why does managing livestock as individuals have more potential that doing the same in crops?

due to the added influence of behaviours between individual animals that could be genetically similar.