“Precision agriculture” has been a well-used buzzword in crop production for years. Any conversation I have with farmers seems to include some aspect of this concept: remote sensing, GPS, variable rate applications — and that’s just the start.
I’m probably getting out ahead of myself talking about the topic, as my last direct involvement with plant-based agriculture involved running equipment that was definitely “analog” and “off the grid.” But I get that precision ag in crop farming means the ability to more exactly apply inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides to only the portions of fields that need them.
On the front end of precision ag is data-gathering technology — determining the specific needs of the crops in precise areas of the field. The back end consists of using tech-based equipment such as variable rate sprayers and autosteer tractors to apply treatments based on that data.
The result is more economical application of those inputs, which has immediate impact on a crop year’s profitability, as well as long-term benefits for the soil and environment.
As an animal agriculturalist, I’ve often felt left out of the conversation about precision agriculture. Perhaps it’s my individual animal and sickness-centered mindset — my envy that crop producers can detect and treat problems with their “units” so accurately and easily.
Detecting and treating problems in my typical “units” (calves or cows) is tougher. Unlike cornstalks, those units get trucked all over the country, jump fences, get stuck in stock dams and have developed behaviors that hide — not display — their illnesses.
I became much more encouraged, however, when I made a recent visit to SDSU’s Cottonwood Field Station for a day of demonstrations on precision livestock technology. There, some really talented research and outreach faculty, students and staff are applying cutting-edge technology to raising cattle.
Remarkably, this work revolves around cattle on vast rangeland pastures, not necessarily confined in barns or feedlots. Long-range solar-power antennas and GPS technology makes some of these applications quite practical.
An impressive example was the use of virtual fence technology. Grazing cattle are fitted with GPS-connected collars that emit a warning sound and (if that’s not enough) give a little shock when they venture outside a pre-programmed area of the pasture. This promotes efficient application of rotational grazing programs without the usual labor and physical fencing.
Other projects apply more to research work than daily cattle management. Portable feeders that measure hay intake and carbon dioxide and methane detectors are examples. But devices such as weigh pads next to water tanks and RFID feeders for supplementing individual heifers can provide current management tools along with research data.
Of course, my dairy counterparts have used individual animal technology for several years. Milk flow monitors flag cows with mastitis or drops in milk production. Robots milk cows. Activity monitors identify cows with health problems by sensing decreased movement and rumination.
In feedlots, individual RFID tags are being used for identification, and work continues to develop sickness monitors for these calves too. The back end of precision livestock farming (using tech to individually treat animals) isn’t as well-developed yet, but I’m confident we’ll get there.
While we wait for those advances in tech-based disease treatment, I learned from my Cottonwood colleagues that we can use current technology to promote animal health: managing nutrition and parasite exposure through rotational grazing and individualized feeders, for example. I’m intrigued by the prospect of using virtual fencing to manage calving areas in a Sandhills Calving System-type arrangement, reducing disease burden on baby calves.
Developing this precision livestock-based technology really requires a partnership. We need people (the “nerds”) who understand the computer coding, satellite connections and power management to make the software and hardware work. But we also need people (the “cowboys” and “cowgirls”) who understand the animals and their environments; otherwise these precision technologies are just fun, but useless, gadgetry.
That’s where you as a livestock producer can help move these technologies forward. Being open to learning about and trying these things on your operations, and working with the developers of such equipment, will help us get closer to the time when a cow herd can benefit from precision ag as well as a cornfield can.
Russ Daly, DVM, is the Extension Veterinarian at South Dakota State University. He can be reached via e-mail at russell.daly@sdstate.edu or at 605-688-5171.
