HOUSING & EQUIPMENT ▶▶▶
New smart farming innovations showcased
Light, air, health and nutrition – virtually all aspects of swine production can be touched on with smart technology. Four guest speakers showcased new applications at Pig Progress’ Future Pigs Event. The seminar was a side-event of the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture and VIV Europe, held in June 2018, in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
BY MELANIE EPP, CORRESPONDENT
Speakers at the Future Pigs semi- nar, from left to right, Steven Mitchell, Green- gage; Olga Averkieva, Nutri- ad; Vincent ter Beek, editor Pig Progress; Angela van der Sanden, Connecting Agri&Food; Jonas Riess, Hen- ke-Sass, Wolf.
T
here’s no shortage of innovative tools that detect and gather on-farm data. Having access to so much information, however, can leave farmers feeling overwhelmed. What separates smart farmers from
the rest is the fact that they don’t simply collect data. Smart farmers learn how to use the data they collect to improve production, animal health and welfare.
Sensor technology to improve pig health Two speakers at the event focused on sensor technology used to detect everything from air quality to temperature, water consumption and disease. Angela van der Sanden of Connecting Agri and Food in the Netherlands, for instance, presented ‘Slimme Stal’ – a sensor that provides a real-time, online view of the barn. The sensor tracks temperature, carbon dioxide levels, water consumption, air pressure, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and butyric acid.
Ms van der Sanden said technology like this is made possible because of LoRaWan (long range wide area network), which provides the infrastructure for a secure, shared networks of low-cost wireless sensors that report on data such as soil moisture, rainfall data, livestock data and crop health. The sensor box, she said, goes to the LoRa Gateway device, which then goes to the wired internet and collected in a data centre in Frankfurt. She said having access to long-term data could help detect issues, like disease outbreaks. Connecting Agri and Food not only monitors data, but also conducts analysis and offers benchmarks. In the future, Ms van der Sanden said they plan to use technology to mea- sure sound in the barn with the hopes that it will tell them about animal health and welfare.
Sensor technology to improve pig production Greengage, a lighting company based in the UK, is looking to sensor technology to improve pig production as well. While lighting plays a role in pig health – red light, for in- stance, can reduce aggression in pigs – it also makes for the perfect conduit for sensor technology, explained Steven Mitchell, marketing manager for Greengage. “We’re launching sensors that clip onto the existing cabling which monitor heat, humidity, CO2
and ammonia,” said
Mr Mitchell. “We’re also using a thermal imaging camera, which is important for disease detection in pigs.” In the future, the company is looking to work with blockchain technology as well. “I think it’s going to be really important for agriculture to get more involved in it,” said Mr Mitchell. All of this technology, he said in conclusion, will make swine farming easier, smarter and greener.
Keeping track of medical treatments There are so many different ways to track data on a pig barn. Medical treatments and vaccinations, are however, still recorded by hand. “There is no modern technology for the digital monitoring of medical treatments so far,” said Jonas Riess, product manager at Henke-Sass, Wolf in Germany, during his talk. There has been much discussion on the use and misuse of an- tibiotics in recent years. Consumers want more transparency in terms of what animals have eaten, how they have lived and what antibiotics they have been given. As a result, farmers
16 ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 34, No. 6, 2018
PHOTO: KOOS GROENEWOLD
PHOTO: KOOS GROENEWOLD
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
