Precision Livestock Farming: A Game Changer for the Worldwide Livestock Sector?

Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) is a tool for management of livestock by continuous automated real-time monitoring of production/reproduction, health & welfare and environmental impact. A tool means that this technology does not replace experts like farmers, veterinarians, feed experts, etc. but that PLF supports people in their decision taking by objective measurements on the animals. This contribution gives an overview of where we are today and what the proven potential is of this technology. We use results from the work we did since 1991 and the literature on this topic published in peer reviewed publications and in several conference proceedings.
When starting this research on insects and mussels, it soon became clear that animals, like humans, are so called C.I.T.D. systems: Complex, Individually different, Time-varying in their responses and Dynamic. Then we did experiments on bees, fish, mice, rats, chicken, pigs, cow, horses, dogs to from 2001 also work on humans. Results are shown in videos and graphs. The research trajectory has given principles on how to develop the technology and to implement it in products. We will discuss some potential issues and business models. The pickup in the field however goes far too slowly and that is where we must put more efforts.
Speaker: Daniel Berckmans, Catholic University of Leuven
Webinar Date: April 6, 2022