🌐 Precision Livestock Farming: Good for Profit and Planet

What is precision livestock farming?

Precision livestock farming is an emerging set of farming practices where livestock producers leverage advanced technologies to access precise data, giving them increased accuracy, insights and ultimately better results. Real-time data enables producers to make the right management decisions the moment they need to be made. It all adds up to more efficient production and the ability to achieve sustainability for your operation, from an environmental and an economic standpoint.

Through the use of sensors, real-time data and computer processing power, precision livestock farming enables you to monitor and optimise the contribution of each individual animal, for increased productivity, improved animal welfare and reduced environmental impact. 

Precision Livestock Farming Tools

Walk-over weighing and auto-drafting
With livestock passing over walk-over-weigh scales linked to an RFID reader, valuable animal weight data can be gathered remotely, with minimal disturbance to the animals. An auto drafter can then segregate animals based on live results and pre-programmed criteria, so you can better manage their health and welfare (or sale).

Individual Animal Management
AgriWebb’s Individual Animal Management feature helps you increase yields through computer-generated weight insights. You can identify underperformers or standouts with visualised daily gains and discover the best time to sell with predictive weight modelling.

GPS Ear Tags
GPS ear tags for cattle and sheep have become less cumbersome and more affordable in recent years. Often touted as a way to find stray livestock or keep track of particularly valuable animals, the tags also produce valuable data on your cattle grazing patterns. You can better, detect overgrazing and address the need for watering points or changes to paddock design.

Precision Pasture Management
Soil analysis with GPS mapping allows for variable-rate application of fertilisers or lime to improve pasture productivity and reduce inputs, while pasture management software can ensure you get the most gains from those pastures without overgrazing.

Individualised Treatments
Reduce chemical use and save money on treatments – through overdosing or ineffective underdosing – with smart drenching guns, such as the Te Pari Revolution Dosing Gun, which can be linked to your scale system to treat animals based on their exact weight.

Cost of Production Insights
Cost of production, indicating the outlay required to produce each kilogram of meat, is usually measured across a whole operation. AgriWebb’s Individual Animal Management can also deliver insights on a per-animal basis. By reviewing an animal’s sale and purchase information, carcass data, weight gain performance and associated costs, you are better placed to improve on your lesser results and replicate your successes.

Getting Started with Precision Livestock Farming

At first glance, precision livestock farming can seem like a complex undertaking. In reality, it can mean less stress and greater confidence – instead of going with your gut, decisions are backed up by the valuable data you have accrued in the course of your operation.

To learn how AgriWebb can help ensure you have an environmentally and financially sustainable farming operation, sign up for a free 14-day trial today.