Animal welfare meets tractor welfare

John Deere and Zoetis are driving early detection

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The ability to predict diseases, damage and other outcomes is constantly improving thanks to digital technology and artificial intelligence. Examples from livestock husbandry and machinery management illustrate how early detection works and what benefits it brings to farmers.

When a cow falls ill, there are signs before the issue becomes clinically visible because of ruminant behaviour changes a few days earlier. If the farmer does not recognise this, valuable time is lost before the animal is treated. With the help of artificial intelligence, ruminant behaviour can now be measured and analysed much more efficiently. Irregularities can be identified at an early stage and the resulting proactive treatment significantly increases animal health and welfare. The SMARTBOW system from Zoetis uses an ‘intelligent’ ear tag that measures ruminantion behaviour and activity as well as location, in real time. Based on the data generated, the system draws conclusions about the cow’s state of health and fertility.

Early detection and diagnosis based on artificial intelligence is not only available in livestock husbandry, but also in John Deere machines. The Expert Alerts system works on the same proactive principle to predict and prevent possible issues occurring before they cause downtime and unwanted costs. Software algorithms continuously analyse the data of JDLink networked machines. In the event of a malfunction, the dealer receives an Expert Alert and related repair information in real time. By coordinating with the customer, repairs can be carried out at the optimum time to prevent any resulting damage.

"The proactive service provided by Expert Alerts maximises machine uptime during ever shorter operating windows," says Alexander Berges, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group Marketing Manager Region 2. The Zoetis early detection system is designed to preserve the health and potentially the life of farm animals. "We can see abnormalities two days before they can be detected visually, which has saved many cow lives,” reports Dr Christian Wunderlich, Zoetis Area Business Manager for SMARTBOW.

With thousands of such examples of early detection systems working in practice, both companies are able to demonstrate the numerous possibilities offered by precision agriculture. Expert Alerts and SMARTBOW harmonise animal welfare, ecology and economic efficiency. It is also very important for the users of this technology that they have complete control over their own, potentially sensitive data, and that they can manage access rights according to their needs and change them at any time. For both John Deere and Zoetis1, reliable data protection is an essential condition for offering these services.

[1] Zoetis is a member of AnimalhealthEurope and thus committed to the ‘EU Code of conduct on agricultural data sharing by contractual agreement’.