Global IoT connectivity provider Eseye has partnered with Precision Animal Solutions on an animal behaviour monitoring solution to improve farming and agriculture. The partnership combines Eseye’s global IoT connectivity solutions with Precision Animal Solution’s remote early disease identification (REDI) system.
This system is used to monitor animal behavior and detect sickness symptoms. The collected data is then transformed into actionable information using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), improving animal welfare management and treatment.
Farmers equipped with this new solution will gain real-time access to critical information, empowering them to make informed decisions and optimise operations while minimising resource consumption. Deploying these insights at scale increases cattle yield while improving animal welfare, expanding the beef and milk supply chain while lowering costs.
Many cattle die each year from bovine respiratory disease (BRD), which represents cause of mortality in growing cattle and causes an estimated $1 billion (€0.91 billion) in economic losses in the US beef industry. Cattle owners monitor each animal’s health which is costly and time-consuming when done manually. Additionally, the complexity of diagnosing a medical problem in an individual calf within herds of up to 500 at a time often leads to slow diagnosis and treatment, causing hardship for animals and economic loss for cattle operations.
Brad White, Veterinarian, professor at Kansas State University, and partner in Precision Animal Solutions says, “What we found through some of our research is if you actually monitor cattle behaviour daily, hourly what you find is early in the illness part, they actually spend a lot more time at the herd; they spend a lot more time trying to hide in the group early in the disease process.”
When suffering with BRD, cattle also eat and drink less than normal. To this point, BRD is a challenge to identify before it is too late. Precision Animal started exploring the development of the wireless-enabled REDI solution to automate the discovery of BRD for cattle producers. The REDI system uses animal behavioural data for cattle wellness determination and has been shown to increase diagnostic accuracy compared to a manual observation.
Eseye was able to work with Precision Animal and deliver the technology to take this from concept to reality and perform a successful field trial. Utilising IoT hardware skills, Eseye worked with Precision Animal to design and develop an industry-standard, animal-safe, reusable bovine tracker which enable REDI to continuously monitor cattle feeding and drinking frequency, social behaviour, and activity patterns. The solution combines edge processing capabilities to facilitate the receipt, storage, and subsequent transmission of the tracker’s data to the cloud. Coupled with Eseye’s managed connectivity services, the custom solution enables remote monitoring, access, and over-the-air (OTA) configuration of connected equipment, without physically mobilising staff and resources to sites.
The results of the pilot were profound. Previous research illustrated REDI generated 81% accuracy of correct disease “calls” compared to the human observation of 64%. When an animal of interest has been identified, a light on the wireless tracker will identify the cow so it can be quarantined, treated, and saved.
Eseye offered an end-to-end IoT solution including a unique blend of hardware and solution architecture expertise, device design services and hardware proof of concepts, combined with its multi-carrier and resilient IoT connectivity capabilities, deployment services and long-term device design, software and hardware support services. Special consideration was taken to ensure suitability for a variety of environments, including different weather conditions and easy placement on cattle not interfering with normal operational flow.
Brad White, Veterinarian, professor at Kansas State University, and partner in Precision Animal Solutions says, “We unsuccessfully tried so many other off-the-shelf technologies before we found Eseye. Eseye was able to provide a custom device-first approach to our unique use case, developed after a series of conversations. As our relationship evolved, it became clear that Eseye was the partner we needed to develop the IoT hardware solution for our project. The potential is well beyond just looking at respiratory disease. I don’t see it supplanting people that are doing those jobs but rather augmenting their ability to do them better. Looking into the future, with support from Eseye, we plan to start deployments in North America across a large number of connected cattle!”
Commenting on partnership, Kieran McNamara, GM North America of Eseye says, “We are thrilled to be at the heart of this ground-breaking technology, bridging the gap between the digital and agricultural worlds, and proactively diagnosing BRD before it’s too late. By enabling farmers to harness the power of IoT, we aim to revolutionise traditional farming practices, making them more efficient, sustainable, and ultimately more productive. This partnership highlights Eseye’s commitment to drive technological advancements and foster economic growth within the agricultural sector.”
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