Agriculture is an ancient practice that has been carried out since the Neolithic age. Just like agriculture, the dairy farming industry which involves using dairy animals like cows and buffaloes for the production of milk is quite ancient too, and a form of agriculture. The dairy farming industry worldwide has grown tremendously in India, US and UK. With AI technology and many other futuristic tools and technologies, we are moving towards modern and futuristic farming.
Some interesting facts and numbers about the dairy industry
- There are more than 270 million dairy cows around the world.
- Cows in the dairy farming industry produce approximately 600 million tons of milk every year.
- In 2019, the global dairy industry was valued to be around USD 720 billion.
These statistics are enough to prove the fact that the dairy industry is one of the largest in the world.
AI technology to drive dairy farming into a futuristic farming industry
- The use of AI technology in different industries and fields as well as its impact is visible to everyone.
- Right from healthcare to agriculture, AI technology has transformed and modernized everything.
- The use of AI technology is helping businesses to save valuable time and efforts.
- Developers and researchers in AI technology are working at different ways to modernize the dairy farming industry worldwide.
AI technology in health monitoring
The health of dairy animals is crucial for farmers and the entire dairy business.
Cattle health is directly related to the milk production.
In the dairy industry, it is important to monitor and take care of the health of cattle reared for milk production.
Some common diseases that are seen in cattle in the dairy farming industry are:
- Clostridiosis
- Mastitis
- Brucellosis
- Tuberculosis
- Verminosis
- Babesiosis
- The cattle being affected by these diseases results in losses of millions of dollars for the dairy industry worldwide.
- At present, monitoring of cattle health in the dairy industry is done through cameras and IoT sensor devices.
- The IOI devices, mainly placed around the neck of cattle as collars, collect data real-time every second.
- The data from IoT devices is processed to identify any symptoms or fluctuations in the body temperature of cattle.
MoooFarm – Following a different approach towards identifying cattle diseases
- Mastitis is an animal disease that affects the mammary gland of animals.
- Mastitis also causes a significant decrease in milk production, which is disastrous for the dairy farming industry.
- MoooFarm, an agritech start-up company in India, is dedicated in its aim to make farmers prosperous, including the dairy farmers.
- MoooFarm is working with Microsoft to develop a product that makes use of AI technology and machine vision to find out any changes in the appearance of the udder in cattle suffering from Mastitis.
- The algorithm would be able to detect a characteristic change in the marking or color of udder, along with other changes.
- MoooFarm also has an app named ‘E- Dairy Mitra’ which helps the dairy farmers get veterinary services for their farm via. audio/video calls or through chat.
Cattle-Eye – Monitoring health of cattle using a software
- CattleEye, a UK -based company, has a software that is presently being used to monitor the health of thousands of cows across UK and USA.
- This software helps to reduce lameness (pain in the limbs of cows due to disease or injury) by almost 10% in a dairy farm.
Digital identity of cattle
- Have you heard about cattle passports?
Just like humans have passports, cattle in several European countries as well as the UK and US have cattle passports.
- These passports are the digital identity of the cattle.
- In many countries, tags are punched in the ears of cattle to identify them in the dairy industry.
- This practice is not only dangerous but also causes pain to the cows.
- In order to solve the cattle identity problem, the cattle facial recognition system powered by AI technology would be handy to distinguish one cow from another.
- MoooFarm is working closely with the Government to develop a robust identity system for cattle by leveraging AI technology and machine learning.
- The use of facial cattle recognition systems can also help to reduce the levels of distrust between farmers and the insurance companies.
- The main reason behind this distrust is the increasing number of cattle theft cases in countries like India.
- With the increasing use of AI technology and automated identification of cattle, more trust can be created between farmers and insurance companies.
- AI powered cattle recognition systems can lay the stepping stone for various services like cattle loans, cattle insurance, and government initiatives related to dairy farming.
AI technology – Moving towards futuristic farming
- AI technology can be a potential game changer for the dairy farming industry worldwide.
- For AI technology to create the impact that it possibly can, there needs to be availability of datasets with the right stakeholders.
- In order to disrupt the farming industry, the Governments of various countries and private organizations need to work in synchronization with each other.
- The Governments can provide data related to milk yield, cattle genetics, and livestock.
- On the other hand, private organizations can offer powerful AI technology resources like IoT devices.
- AI is a futuristic technology that can change the dairy industry, if implemented correctly.
- The major roadblocks in the implementation of AI technology are accessibility in the rural areas and reluctance of farmers to embrace futuristic technology.
- If these drawbacks are overcome, there is no stopping AI technology from transforming the dairy industry.