IoT solutions and smart devices are making considerable transformations in sectors like farming and livestock. When everything is connected around us via the Internet, it is nearly impossible for us to imagine life without the Internet of things.
The internet of things has changed the way the livestock industry works. The use of battery-powered sensors and smart devices has helped farmers in keeping track of their livestock without running around with them wherever they go. Livestock monitoring using IoT helps ranchers to keep track of their livestock in real-time. It helps in combating many problems faced in the livestock industry.
A list of problems faced by the livestock industry is as follows:
- Animals eat noxious things like plastic and fall sick.
- High animal mortality rate.
- No track of livestock if the number is significant.
- If a farm animal is lost, there is no track.
How IoT solutions are helpful in Livestock monitoring systems?
The livestock industry is huge, and therefore it is essential to keep track of livestock and other farm animals. A Livestock monitoring system is a revolutionary solution architected and developed using sensors, GPS, etc. and integrating all these with a network protocol for communication. This monitoring system helps the farmers to keep a check on their farm animals remotely. The tracker device is attached to collars and keeps track of animal health, chewing patterns, location details, pasture management, etc.
The Livestock monitoring system not only helps in managing farm animals but also other farm equipment. The use of sensors on livestock, where the data is sent to a central unit for monitoring, is an implementation known as Wireless Sensor Network.
How can IoT reduce the spread of Lumpy disease?
Lumpy Skin disease is a contagious viral disease that spreads among cattle through vectors like mosquitoes, flies, lice and wasps by direct contact, as also through contaminated food and water
Studies have also shown that it can spread through animal semen during artificial insemination.
The symptoms include high fever, reduced milk production, skin nodules, loss of appetite, increased nasal discharge and watery eyes.
As the early symptoms of Lumpy Disease are fever and Loss of Appetite, temperature rise and rumination can be tracked by IoT devices. This can help in quarantining the cattle before spreading it to others.
WORKING ON AN IOT-ENABLED LIVESTOCK MONITORING SYSTEM
The IoT-enabled livestock monitoring platform can turn out to be a boon for livestock farming. IoT-enabled livestock management solutions provide data on various aspects of cattle health. Using a wearable collar or tag, equipped with sensors, monitoring of the location, temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate of animals can be done. These Wearable IoT devices wirelessly send the data of every cattle on the farm to a central unit, called IoT Gateway.
The tracker device is made small in size and light weighted so that animals don’t find it bulky over their body. The GPS tracker and sensors are integrated into the device so that the animals’ movements and health can be monitored 24*7. The behavioral tracking feature of the system can help the farmers to know what their livestock are eating.
There are mobile applications and web apps or IoT Dashboards associated with the hardware. With the help of the application associated with the device, farmers can create virtual boundaries with geofencing to secure the locations where the livestock can move freely. The tracker sends alerts to the mobile application if the livestock moves beyond defined boundaries. It also sends alerts if the livestock is eating or drinking something toxic or inappropriate. This way, the farmers can save their livestock from health issues.
The system can work on LPWAN, which works everywhere, hence ensuring the proper connections. There are various LPWAN protocols that are opted for according to the application.
BENEFITS OF AN IOT-ENABLED LIVESTOCK MONITORING SYSTEM
Farms now have huge numbers of animals making the direct interaction of staff with all the animals impossible. IoT-enabled monitoring for Livestock helps in checking on all the animals remotely and also provides information on every animal on the farm to rely on.
Key benefits of monitoring livestock using IoT are:-
- Monitor the health and vitality of livestock in real-time, enabling farmers to quickly treat animals and prevent the spread of disease.
- To monitor grazing patterns and nutritional changes.
- Track grazing animals.
- Gather and analyze historical data to identify trends in cattle health.
- Optimizing breeding practices.
- Cloud-based integration and dashboard solutions to provide real-time information as well as historic data to vets, nutritionists etc.
TRACKING LIVESTOCK’S MOVEMENT WITH GPS
Tracking your animals’ behavior and keeping an eye on the locations wherever they go is essential nowadays. With a Cattle monitoring and Tracking system, you can track your livestock location 24*7. You can also locate lost animals and rescue them in no time. The system comes with an integrated GPS tracker and geofencing feature by which it becomes easier to create grazing boundaries for the cow and other farm animals.
TRACK LIVESTOCK HEALTH
For healthy products we get from livestock, the livestock animals must be healthy. The livestock monitoring system helps in keeping a check on the health of the livestock. You can monitor the grazing pattern and make better decisions for livestock weight, food timings, etc. If livestock gets any illness such as lameness, then the medicine timings and behavior can be tracked along with the calving, lactation period, etc.
With proper feed and better digestion, livestock can produce more nutritious milk. The temperature sensors can help in detecting feverish symptoms early so that animals can get better care.
DECREASE LIVESTOCK MORTALITY RATE
Sometimes for getting extra products from farm animals, farmers make their animals eat antibiotics or steroids. These antibiotics can harm livestock in ways that can also lead to the loss of the animal’s life. With the livestock monitoring system, you can track your livestock’s eating habits and give them good feed for better produce.
IDENTIFICATION OF LIVESTOCK AND BETTER SECURITY
The identification of animals becomes more comfortable with livestock monitoring systems. You can easily track birth details, breed, identification marks, etc. With the tags, it is easier to identify the livestock and increases their security too. This can reduce theft risks and loss cases.
Also Read: How Farm Animal Monitoring using IoT is Transforming Farming?
IMPROVED PASTURE MANAGEMENT
The Monitoring system for livestock can be useful for improving the pasture or grass which animals eat. Farmers can track the animal’s movement and the area they are grazing. This way, animals will eat good grass and we can get better products from them. It will increase the profit which farmers earn from livestock.
IoT has changed the way the livestock industry operates. If you are looking for a technology-savvy to help you out-track your livestock and manage it without any hassle, PsiBorg is an IoT solutions company where you can expect solutions that are new and beyond.
