Connected animals are a very large market. After connected objects for pets, for example for better surveillance, companies have become more and more interested in connected livestock, especially cows.
This technology not only allows farmers to better monitor their herds while giving them the maximum freedom they need for better growth, but also to improve their health, or to increase and improve their production.
The data collected by the cow-related sensors are processed, allowing the detection of some behaviors and thus thanks to the predictive analysis, to anticipate events likely to occur and to ensure a follow-up in real time. Solutions can be made to avoid disease and thus reduce veterinary costs, detect ovulation periods to improve the success rate of insemination and monitor the livestock feed that impacts production of milk.
In Europe, connected collars are already used by many farmers. Brian Weatherup’s family in Scotland, owning a farm since three generations is a good example. Weatherup uses this technology for its dairy cows allowing him to receive emails on the smartphone that prevent changes. He monitors the health, productivity, and fertility of his cows.
Given its potential, companies are increasingly interested in this market. In 2014, the UK startup Silent Herdsman created a health and livestock production monitoring collar. We can also note Well Cow in Scotland, Luda in Sweden or the Chinese giant Huawei who would consider entering the connected livestock market. This market is also in very large development in China where about 5000 head of cattle have already been equipped with the 4G box containing a GPS and a thermometer before the end of 2017.