Noseband sensor validation and behavioural indicators for assessing beef cattle grazing on extensive pastures

Impacts of heat stress on the accuracy of a noseband sensor for detection of eating and rumination behavior in confined cattle

Precision monitoring of feeding behaviors can aid in dairy herd management. Noseband sensors (RumiWatch System [RW]; Itin + Hoch GmbH) have been established as an automated gold standard for evaluating precision technologies in grazing cows, but more advanced algorithms have not been validated in confinement settings. Additionally, little is known regarding effects of environmental conditions on sensor performance. Therefore, accuracy of RW in quantifying eating and rumination time in confinement was evaluated using 2 versions of the analysis software algorithms (RW Converter V.7.3.2 and V.7.3.36) under thermoneutral (TN; 21.0°C, 64.0% relative humidity [RH], temperature-humidity index [THI] = 67) and heat stress conditions (HS; cyclical daily temperatures to mimic diurnal patterns; 0700-1900 h: 33.6°C, 40.0% RH, THI = 83.5; 1900-0700 h: 23.2°C, 70.0% RH; THI = 70.3). Nine individually housed Holstein × Simmental cross steers were fitted with RW noseband sensors. Agreement for eating time reported by RW and visual observations (1-min scan sampling) was very high in TN regardless of software version (concordance correlation coefficient [CCC]: V.7.3.2 = 0.91; V.7.3.36 = 0.94), and remained high to very high (CCC: V.7.3.2 = 0.89; V.7.3.36 = 0.95) during HS. Agreement for rumination time was very high regardless of software version in both TN (CCC: V.7.3.2 = 0.93; V.7.3.36 = 0.99) and HS (CCC: V.7.3.2 = 0.91; V.7.3.36 = 0.99). Overall, RW accurately quantified eating and ruminating time in confined cattle, and noseband sensors retained accuracy during heat stress. These results indicate RW may serve as a benchmark for future precision technology validations in dairy cattle managed in confinement systems.

Application of Precision Technologies to Characterize Animal Behavior: A Review

This study aims to evaluate the state of precision livestock farming (PLF)'s spread, utilization, effectiveness, and evolution over the years. PLF includes a plethora of tools, which can aid in a number of laborious and complex tasks. These tools are often used in the monitoring of different animals, with the objective to increase production and improve animal welfare. The most frequently monitored attributes tend to be behavior, welfare, and social interaction. This study focused on the application of three types of technology: wearable sensors, video observation, and smartphones. For the wearable devices, the focus was on accelerometers and global positioning systems. For the video observation, the study addressed drones and cameras. The animals monitored by these tools were the most common ruminants, which are cattle, sheep, and goats. This review involved 108 articles that were believed to be pertinent. Most of the studied papers were very accurate, for most tools, when utilized appropriate; some showed great benefits and potential.

Precision technologies to improve dairy grazing systems

Pasture-based dairy herds continue to grow around the world as demand increases for sustainable farming practices. Grazing dairy farmers may benefit from the utilization of precision dairy technologies because these technologies have the potential to improve animal welfare, increase farm efficiency, and reduce costs. Precision dairy technologies have provided novel information about activity, rumination, and grazing behavior of various breeds in pasture-based systems. Previous research with wearable technologies has indicated that rumination, eating, and no activity have moderate to high correlations (r = 0.65 to 0.88) with visual observation; however, activity may be difficult to record in grazing herds. However, many grazing dairy farmers around the world are using activity monitors with generally positive success. Grazing is a complex behavior to define because cows may walk to an area and stop to eat or continuously walk and take bites of grass from the pasture. Wearable technologies can detect whether a cow is grazing with reasonable accuracy. However, the challenge is to determine pasture intake as bite rate and bite size because these can vary as the pasture is grazed to a low residual height. Nevertheless, grazing behavior data collected with wearable technologies was highly correlated (r = 0.92 to 0.95) with visual observations. Grazing is a behavior that should continue to be explored, especially with precision dairy technologies. As healthy and productive pastures are integral to grazing systems, accurate forage biomass measurements can improve efficiency and production of pastured dairy cows. However, few farms use technology to determine forage availability. Therefore, using dairy technologies to monitor forage dry matter from pasture may provide a potential benefit for grazing-based dairy farms. Current satellite technology with the normalized difference vegetation index and electronic rising plate meters may provide new technologies for farms to monitor forage biomass and fine-tune grazing within pastures. In the future, pasture-based dairy farms may rely on virtual fencing, drones to detect animal health issues and forage availability, and autonomous vehicles to move cattle and to detect weeds on pasture.

Innovations in Cattle Farming: Application of Innovative Technologies and Sensors in the Diagnosis of Diseases

Precision livestock farming has a crucial function as farming grows in significance. It will help farmers make better decisions, alter their roles and perspectives as farmers and managers, and allow for the tracking and monitoring of product quality and animal welfare as mandated by the government and industry. Farmers can improve productivity, sustainability, and animal care by gaining a deeper understanding of their farm systems as a result of the increased use of data generated by smart farming equipment. Automation and robots in agriculture have the potential to play a significant role in helping society fulfill its future demands for food supply. These technologies have already enabled significant cost reductions in production, as well as reductions in the amount of intensive manual labor, improvements in product quality, and enhancements in environmental management. Wearable sensors can monitor eating, rumination, rumen pH, rumen temperature, body temperature, laying behavior, animal activity, and animal position or placement. Detachable or imprinted biosensors that are adaptable and enable remote data transfer might be highly important in this quickly growing industry. There are already multiple gadgets to evaluate illnesses such as ketosis or mastitis in cattle. The objective evaluation of sensor methods and systems employed on the farm is one of the difficulties presented by the implementation of modern technologies on dairy farms. The availability of sensors and high-precision technology for real-time monitoring of cattle raises the question of how to objectively evaluate the contribution of these technologies to the long-term viability of farms (productivity, health monitoring, welfare evaluation, and environmental effects). This review focuses on biosensing technologies that have the potential to change early illness diagnosis, management, and operations for livestock.