There are robot vacuums that can clean houses! There are also robot vacuums that clean barns!
Technology
Data
Farmers make many important decisions each day. By collecting data and having more information available to them, these decisions will be easier and more precise. In the future, sensors and robots will collect more information on pests and weather while making recommendations on important farming decisions. These are called data-driven decisions.
Robots collect information on things such as pests, weather, and crop health for farmers to use to make decisions.
Equipment
High-tech farms collect data from wearable collars and ear tags, sensors, and drones. Farmers use this information to improve their ways of farming and taking care of their animals. This will help their practices to be more efficient, productive, and sustainable.
Livestock animals can wear tags that collect information to better take care of them.
Robots can do jobs that are usually quite easy for humans to do but take lots of time. Using robots to help with these tasks allows farm workers more time to do other, more complicated work.
Barn cleaner robots clean manure and straw away from animals.
Milking machines are available whenever the cows want to be milked.
Robots can be used to collect eggs quickly and carefully.
A robot is parked next to a herd of cattle in a pasture.
Robots may be able to act as herd dogs.
Here are some examples of robots on livestock farms.
Watch a barn cleaning robot in action!
Drones monitor the health of livestock animals and the land they graze. Here are some other benefits of using drones:
- They help farmers to quickly and easily find lost animals, report on new births and diagnose sickness in herds and animals.
- They report on pasture conditions and water supplies.
- You may be able to train animals to follow a drone!
Drones check on livestock animals that are grazing in pastures and report any issues back to farmers.
Microphones and cameras check the environmental condition of barns (temperature, humidity, brightness, sound, and smell) to make sure animals are living in the best conditions!
Barn cameras let farmers keep a close eye on any new babies!
Animal Health
Do you know someone that wears a watch that tells them about their health? Here are some reasons someone might wear a watch that monitors them:- To count their steps
- To see how long they slept
- To measure their heart rate
- To check their temperature
Livestock animals wear bands that have sensors to collect a lot of information about the animal!
Humans wear watches with sensors that collect a lot of information about them too!
Animals can wear a collar on their neck or a band on their ankle to measure the same things! This wearable technology can tell the farmer all kinds of information such as:
- If an animal has an illness
- If an animal has an infection
- Behavioural changes
- Readiness for market
- Sensors in cow collars can measure grass height in the pasture. If the cows have eaten what they should from that area, automatic gates will open letting the animals into another section of the pasture. This is an example of artificial intelligence.
The sensors that livestock animals wear will send data to the farmer.
Learn about the collars that livestock wear and find out how it tracks their health.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the ability of machines to learn from doing something and to adjust to new information. This makes robots more like humans and enables them to react to changing situations.
Veterinarians, immunologists, epidemiologists, and virologists keep track of animal diseases and are always studying and developing new medicines and vaccines. Robots with artificial intelligence allow these scientists to be more effective.
The data that is collected about livestock animals is very important and can help to make many decisions that help keep animals happy and healthy!