The concept of using cameras to watch your dairy isn’t new, but with the arrival of artificial intelligence and significant players actively investing in the U.S. dairy industry, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are truly transforming the management of cows. New offerings create even more value for the producers who have installed these systems.
The adoption of cameras has been slower than that of wearable (IoT) sensors, which are now used on over half the dairy cows in the U.S., with cow collars and ear tags installed on millions of cows. That said, while smart camera systems represent about 10% of those using wearables today, this number continues to grow quickly and should surpass 1 million cows within the next two years.
Cainthus was the leader in cow camera systems. It is now owned by Ever.Ag, who has combined the system and data flows into their dairy and My Dairy Dashboard (MDD) platforms. Recently, the company added to its feedbunk-monitoring camera systems and relaunched it as Feed King, a feed management system. Cainthus has also launched a new offering for the maternity ward, which alerts farmers when cows are ready to calve with real-time alerts and time-stamped video clips sent to a producer’s phone, smart device or laptop. The two Ever.Ag systems are already being used on over 100,000 cows. Key partners in California and Minnesota were instrumental in the development of the systems, ensuring that it was practical and of value to the farmer. Ever.Ag’s integration allows the flow of data from the MDD and dairy platforms to Cainthus. Adding data origination to data aggregation shows the output and outcomes together to give farmers clear feedback and actions to take.
GEA, from Germany, purchased CattleEye last year, a UK startup with a product that allows farmers to identify lameness in the milking parlor. Their 2D cameras are located over the walkways as the cows go for milking. By observing a cow's gait, the company says it is possible to accurately predict cows at risk for lameness and can flag them to be separated from the herd as they return from the parlor to the barn. As the world’s first 2D-camera livestock monitoring solution, their vision is to revolutionize how billions of farmed livestock are monitored globally through the application of machine vision powered by AI. They aim to make farms more profitable, provide better animal care and improve a farm’s carbon footprint. Today, CattleEye is present on farms milking over 100,000 cows, and I believe that in 20 years it will be unthinkable not to use AI-smart cameras as part of a transparent, trusted animal supply chain.
California-based Cattle Care uses camera images from the milking parlor to spot nonstandard deviations from protocols in milking and send a dairy farmer alerts with video footage of the behaviors it has spotted. They claim adoption so far by over 300,000 milking cows. Cattle Care video analytics measure employee performance, making them accountable and enabling a shift from paying hourly wages to performance-based salaries. Practical examples include the ability to detect when milkers fail to clean teats, install milking cups improperly, use cellphones or smoke while on the job. Video clips of nonstandard practices allow managers to coach and police the farm and result in improvements in work practices after installation.
ElectrifAI is a “digital shepherd” system developed with investment from the founders of fairlife. It is an autonomous system to ensure cow welfare practices are being followed on farms. Compared to other players, ElectrifAI uses simpler camera systems, but the purpose is to focus on cow welfare and the interaction between the caregivers and the cows, creating transparency for auditors and demonstrating best practices are being followed. This reduces risks for vertically integrated, consumer-facing brands. The company claims its technology can monitor over 30 cameras, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in near real-time and “never miss a frame [when] compared to the inherent limitations associated with professionally trained human video watchers.”
The use of cameras on dairy farms has been around for over 20 years, but AI brings a new dimension. Since it is not possible or cost-effective for a human to sit in front of a bank of cameras 24 hours a day, seven days a week to watch what occurs on a farm, AI systems offer a new solution. Dairy producers can easily avail themselves of these novel technologies and the insights they provide. As they used to say in Star Trek, dairy producers can now “Go where no human has gone before!”
