Checking up on your cattle is about to become a whole lot easier.
Dr. Bob Judd, host of Texas Vet News on the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network, explains how new ear tags developed by Quantified Ag can help ranchers and feedlots keep tabs on large herds of cattle.
The way this works is a receiver in the feedlot takes signals from multiple calves with the ear tags and sends the data to a central system in the cloud and the data is analyzed, Dr. Judd said.
The electronic ear tags monitor certain behavior and biometric markers that indicate when cattle are sick. When that behavior is detected, alerts are sent to the appropriate person via email or text.
It has been shown that the sooner treatment is started, especially in calves with bovine respiratory disease, the better the response,” Dr. Judd said. “If you don’t detect calves with bovine respiratory disease early, they develop lesions in the lungs. Many of these calves develop chronic disease and may never fully recover.
The tags should be available by the end of the year.
Although the company has not mentioned the cost of the tag, the service will be provided on a subscription basis.
The tags do not replace the job of an experienced cattleman or pen rider, according to Judd, but it will make caring for large amounts of cattle easier.
Dr. Judd’s full report can be heard here: http://bit.ly/1Jdl6hd.