More than 350 farms across the world have cows that are uploading data to a cloud. Dairy farmers are using sensors implanted in cows’ stomachs to track the health of the herd.
And soon, the makers say, the monitoring devices will be coming to Canada, with the Austrian startup SmaXtec in talks with companies that work with Canadian dairy farmers.
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It starts with a cow having a hot dog sized sensor put inside of its stomach, which is linked to Wi-Fi that helps farmers analyze the health and well-being of their herd.
If the cow shows signs of being ill, the sensor sends a text message or email to a vet days before the animal is visibly sick.
“Increase of temperature for example, could be a sign of getting sick. You can prevent these problems if you detect them as soon as possible,” Stefan Rosenkranz, co-founder of SmaXtec told Global News.
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Sensors are inserted into the cow through the throat with a metal rod and lodged in the rumen, the cow’s first of four stomachs.
The battery-run device then transmits data on motion, temperature levels, pH, food intake and hydration.
“You can make better decisions with your cows,” Rosenkranz said. So if anything is out of the ordinary, that data is flagged to farmers.
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Rosenkranz said the device offers farmers an early warning system so they can reduce the amount of infectious diseases in their cows.
However, the sensors do not say exactly what kind of disease or sickness the cow might be suffering from but just that the cow needs attention.
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Asked whether this kind of technology could be used on humans for early sickness detection, Rosenkranz said maybe in the future.
“Some of this I think is relatable.”
For now, the company is targeting farmers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Middle East and China, where a herd of more than 25,000 cows on a farm isn’t unusual.
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