Livestock Tech at CAST

Livestock productivity, health and wellness can be enhanced with the help of technology. CAST is developing, testing and integrating products that monitor animals, automate tasks and provide data for precision management of animal agriculture.

ReproPhone

a man bends down to look at a piece of technology in a lab — Iftak Hussain, Cornell postdoctoral research associate in the engineering lab of David Erickson, tests a prototype of the ReproPhone, which he helped engineer. Photo credit: Jackie Swift

A Novel Approach to Cattle Reproductive Management.

Cattle producers spend time and money on testing pregnancy and ovarian status. Current methods rely on veterinarian-administered exams and off-farm testing of samples, such as blood or milk.

The ReproPhone seeks to save farmers time and money by combining an easy-to-use assay technology with a mobile-device app they can use on-farm. The test results provide unique decision-making support by determining both pregnancy and ovarian status of individual cows.

Currently CAST is developing and testing the ReproPhone under field conditions.

CattleEye

a man sits in front of computer, looking at data on dairy cows — Cattle Eye is an autonomous cattle monitoring platform that scores locomotion in cows and highlights those that may require intervention. Photo by Agency 29/Hill + Valley Creative.

Using AI to identify lameness in dairy cows.

Lameness in cows cost farmers substantial time and money, and affect the wellbeing of the herd. Identifying which cows have mobility issues so they can be treated is a challenge that CattleEye seeks to solve.

CattleEye uses a standard security camera mounted over the exit race of the milking parlor, which captures video footage of each cow as it leaves the parlor. Artificial intelligence algorithms in the cloud analyze the footage to uniquely identify each cow and monitor mobility and body condition. The insights gained can improve dairy efficiency and productivity.

Currently CAST is testing CattleEye under field conditions.

SenseHub

cows lie in barn with technology around their necks

Wearable sensors that monitor cow health, reproduction status and comfort 24/7.

SenseHub collars electronically monitor a cow’s behavior minute-by-minute to give farmers insights into her health, reproductive status and comfort. Behavioral data is quickly transformed into information to rapidly identify cows that need attention. SenseHub allows herd managers to fine-tune management practices to take a proactive approach to individual animal and herd management.

Currently CAST is exploring how SenseHub contributes to improving herd management and performance.

Learn more about SenseHub

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