Food producers have said the challenges they face are “the toughest in a generation”, with labour shortages caused by Brexit and Covid, an ongoing pig cull and the transition to life beyond the EU’s subsidy scheme.
Livestock management is a notoriously difficult job, but technology is here to lend a helping hand. New connectivity developments have already considerably improved the industry, making tracking and managing livestock much easier and decision-making more data-driven. Companies are developing sensors to monitor real-time milk production, health and quality, which means producers can make decisions more efficiently while animal welfare improves too. In addition, virtual fences can move animals wearing a sensor remotely from one area of a pasture to another. Even robotics is advancing fast in this industry, addressing the challenges of labour shortages on traditional livestock farms. 12% of dairy farms already use robots and this is expected to grow to 20% in the next five years.
Read more below on livestock management applications.
Real-time monitoring of herds
In the North East of England, where grazing livestock farms account for over half the farms, the average UK farm size is 137 hectares, compared to 81 hectares nationally. Traditional methods of counting livestock and tracking herd movements are therefore time-consuming and hugely inefficient. Technology offers a better way: from GPS tags to connected cameras or even drones flown overhead, animals can be effectively tracked over large distances. Artificial Intelligence is then capable of processing the data, predicting herd movements and optimising grazing locations. This can free up limited worker resources to engage in less menial tasks such as supporting animal welfare.
Connected technologies can also monitor herd behaviour more efficiently and effectively, providing early warning systems for undesirable behaviours (for example, pigtail biting).
Increased animal quality of life
Protecting the welfare of livestock is a critical concern for all farmers, both morally and economically: heat stress in cows alone costs the UK economy £94.6m annually. With connected technologies, environments can be effectively monitored and managed to promote animal comfort and minimise the risk of unwanted behaviours.
Sensors and machine vision can automatically make adaptations to animal environments, for example, increasing ventilation. In addition, monitoring enables earlier detection of disease and situations where the animal may require support such as calving.
Increased automation for commonplace activities like weighing and milking can also have a significant impact in reducing animal stress levels, while connected tags and collars grant them more autonomy over their own lives. Monitoring and controlling access to enclosures can reduce the risk of, and provide earlier identification of, biohazards.
As consumers have higher expectations around welfare standards, technology solutions enable farmers to meet those expectations and offer unparalleled traceability.
Real-time individual monitoring of animals for smart livestock management
Against a backdrop of rising costs, optimising yields is paramount for livestock farmers. Using advanced connectivity and the technologies it enables, farmers can implement real-time individual monitoring of animals through body-worn and environmental sensors to facilitate smarter operations - from early detection of biohazards and illness to developing individualised feeding and care plans.
While many sensors only require 4G or even 3G connectivity, with advanced connectivity solutions like 5G offering higher bandwidth and lower latency, a large number of connected devices can be supported and data transferred to farmers in real-time. AI can then be used to analyse large volumes of data and identify early warning signs long before a human may observe a problem. This means farmers, who often need to make time-sensitive decisions, instantaneously receive the required information.
The benefits will be significant. Farmers in the UK lose £270 million each year due to parasitic worm infections alone, and approximately 110,000 calves and 50,000 cows die every year in the UK because of calving issues. McKinsey estimates that better monitoring of animal health could produce $70 to $90 billion in value globally by 2030.
Automated husbandry
Labour and skills shortages pose a major challenge for the agriculture industry. Wages have risen by 22% since 2019, and Brexit has made it harder to access immigrant labour. A generation of farmers with a lifetime of knowledge are also slowly exiting the workforce: the average UK farmer is 59 years old.
The case for embracing automation is clear. When it comes to livestock management, there are significant benefits to increasing the efficiency of livestock operations. For instance, ensuring livestock receive the right amount of feed at the right time, can result in better growth rates and higher yields, while consistent care, less stress-inducing human interaction and earlier detection of biohazards can improve animal welfare.
Automation in livestock can be deployed at various stages, whether breeding or slaughtering. The first milking robot was launched in 1995 and now automated equipment is a fixture on farms worldwide, carrying out a range of tasks including collecting eggs, weighing and feeding. Advanced connectivity can play a critical role in enabling this technology, ensuring data is collected and transferred in real-time for further analysis and human intervention.
Drones can also play an important role in livestock management: when connected by 5G, the drone can fly behind the line of sight and transfer HD-quality data in near real-time. This means herds can be surveyed over vast areas quickly and efficiently, keeping herds safe, secure and accounted for at all times. Through reducing costs and improving yields, McKinsey estimates the use of drones in agriculture could generate between $85 billion and $115 billion in value.
Predictive maintenance of machinery
With profit margins being squeezed, farmers need to increase - or at least maintain - their outputs. One way to do this is to reduce downtime, especially for critical machinery such as robot milking machines. As farms embrace the move to automation, the need to improve performance, minimise downtime and extend the lifetime of machinery will become even more vital.
Computer vision and sensors attached to equipment can feed AI models to enable predictive maintenance, and the identification of early indicators of wear, tear or malfunction. Advanced connectivity, such as 5G, facilitates the capture and processing of equipment operating data in real time. These insights - combined, for example, with analysis of vibrations, temperature and oil usage - allow a shift to a predictive maintenance model, which, impressively, results in detections up to 90 days in advance. This allows for scheduling and controlling of maintenance and repairs, minimising downtime, extending the lifespan of machinery and avoiding wastage from time-based maintenance approaches.
Enabling more sustainable practices
Consumer demand for a sustainable food system is growing: a 2023 McKinsey US consumer study found that products making environmental, social, and governance (ESG)–related claims averaged 28 per cent cumulative growth over the past five years, compared with 20 per cent for products that do not make such claims. Products making multiple types of ESG claims—such as environmental sustainability and organic farming methods—grew about twice as fast as products that made only one claim. Sustainable farming offers increased profitability in the short term and is likely to become table stakes in the long term.
Sensors and camera-equipped autonomous equipment can collect and transmit rich, standardised data with minimal human input, enabling farmers to substantiate sustainable farming practices and provide full farm-to-fork traceability.
Connected sensors can also support the successful scaling of insect-based food production for farmers moving away from soy-based animal feed.
Real-time monitoring of weather conditions
September 2023 saw seven days of 30-degree heat in the UK, a new record. In 2022, we witnessed an all-time high of 40.3 degrees. The impact of climate change is undeniable and it’s not just delivering hotter summers but wetter winters, increasing the likelihood of flooding, as well as more extreme and unpredictable weather.
This has big implications for livestock farmers, both directly (impacting animal health, welfare, growth, and reproduction), and indirectly (productivity of pastures, forage crops and feeds). The impact on cattle farming is particularly pronounced, with heat negatively impacting milk production and heat stress in cows, which already costs the UK economy £94.6m annually.
Connected weather sensors and AI can enable you to detect, analyse and even predict weather events, enabling you to respond faster to changing weather. Automated environments can increase shade and ventilation in response to rain, humidity, wind and temperature to continuously optimise the environments for indoor livestock.
Improving operational efficiencies
Livestock farmers are in a precarious position, facing an uncertain future as input costs increasingly track above output costs. Improving operational efficiencies is therefore paramount, whether in the form of reducing wastage or increasing yields.
Connected sensors can track the use and conditions of buildings and machinery to reduce energy consumption, which avoids stockpiling fuel for machines not being used and minimises wastage of feed and other perishable items.
Reducing costs is only one side of the equation. When the pressure on profitability is high, minimising downtime and increasing yields is critical. Connected silo sensors can monitor inventory levels, forecasting the consumption of products and automatically re-ordering. Monitoring and analysing environmental conditions and livestock performance can then identify opportunities to optimise conditions for higher yields.
Improve worker safety and satisfaction
According to Safety Nation, agriculture has the worst rate of worker fatal injury, around twenty times higher than the annual for the farming industry. Working with livestock and hazardous machinery poses significant risks and with increasing costs and growing labour shortages, many farm workers often work on their own. Being able to call for help is a basic need but reliable connectivity is essential.
More advanced connectivity can also support both worker safety and satisfaction. Automation of manual, laborious tasks can both free workers up to engage in more fulfilling work but also potentially remove them from hazardous scenarios such as manually weighing animals.
Security of animals and machinery
Farm theft is on the rise with sheep rustling a significant problem: in 2023, NFU Mutual, the UK’s leading rural insurer, released a Rural Crime Report to highlight its true cost to the UK. Livestock rustling, quad and ATV theft are just some examples that contribute to the total loss of over £49.5m in 2022. Rural theft has become more organised and steadily increased since the pandemic: sheep rustling has seen an 11% increase in reports over two years, and insurers have identified livestock theft as the third most costly crime for the UK's farming sector.
Technology solutions are here to help. Connected CCTV and drones can provide real-time feeds of farmland, with 5G enabling ultra-high-definition quality. Connected collars and tags with GPS tracking can track livestock across expansive farmland, helping reduce the loss of livestock. Expensive farm machinery can also be fitted with geo-fencing, which triggers an alarm if the animals go beyond farm boundaries.