How Artificial Intelligence Helps Livestock Farmers

Experts have identified several key areas that make farm management more efficient through the introduction of artificial intelligence. Today, digital technologies help to remotely monitor the condition of each animal, analyze its behavior, development rate, identify various diseases at early stages, and prevent herd infection.

Monitoring the condition of animals on farms

With the help of artificial intelligence technologies, farms can track changes in weight, behavior, and possible symptoms of animal disease. Continuous monitoring and recognition of anomalies using computer vision and audio data analysis allow for prompt response to emergencies and prescribe treatment for animals, adjusting their living conditions. The effectiveness of AI implementation in this area was estimated at an increase in dairy and beef productivity by 15% and a reduction in animal treatment costs by 11%.

"The implementation of such solutions requires not only investments in it products themselves, but also the accompanying infrastructure, primarily developed Internet communications and roads in rural areas. Therefore, digital solutions are currently used mainly by agricultural holdings. Although from the point of view of the production process, they are extremely interesting. For example, HEALTH monitoring using boluses that animals swallow or neck transponders. Medium-sized enterprises often need digitalization no less than large ones. Imagine that one veterinarian needs to cover several farms located far from each other. In this case, "digital" can significantly increase the efficiency of monitoring: the condition of the animals is visible on the dashboard, and in emergency cases, a notification is automatically sent, one might say, the cow itself calls a specialist," commented Roman Kostyuk, CEO of the National Union of Beef Producers.

Every HEAD counts

In pig farming, the introduction of artificial intelligence provides another advantage. Often, sows crush piglets. AI recognizes such cases and, in the event of an incident, sends notifications to workers for prompt response. As a result, the mortality rate of piglets at the enterprise is reduced by 2 times.

“Machine vision and other robotic technologies allow us to minimize the human factor, which is important both in terms of reducing stress for animals and in terms of the current shortage of personnel,” comments Yuri Kovalev, CEO of the National Union of Pig Breeders.

Big Data Analysis

This is another direction that has prospects in animal breeding. Traditional breeding methods do not allow for all the factors that influence the data of the animals being bred. AI can analyze and interpret large arrays of genomic data, label a wide range of elements of the genomic sequence in a short period of time, which reduces research costs , the publication says.