For decades, people have relied on farmers to produce the food they buy at the grocery store. With the world’s population increasing at an unsustainable level leading to increased land and food scarcity, coupled with the unprofitability of ranching for many farmers today, we are faced with a problem that needs to be solved.
With these seemingly unsolvable problems, people are turning to technology for help. One of the solutions born by technology is artificial intelligence (AI): human-like intelligence built into hardware and software using algorithmic applications.
A concept that might seem foreign to some, AI uses machine and deep learning to configure itself into a smart system that is able to predict and learn things without human intervention. Once an AI is built, it is like its own being.
AI and Precision Livestock Farming
Precision livestock farming means monitoring each individual animal for things such as food intake and output, activity, and health to optimize their individual contribution. Tracking animals closely helps keep the animals healthier, and allows a given farmer to use collected information to make better decisions, making the entire food chain process more efficient.
For example, if a cow shows signs of temperature imbalance to an AI through computer vision, the farmer can immediately treat that individual animal and keep it away from other animals, preventing the spread of illness. Some AI systems can even weigh animals remotely removing the need for manual weighing, a time-consuming process.
Who is BETSY?
What’s more, cattle can even be identified by AI and computer vision without the use of RFID or Drop Tags. This is startup OneCup AI’s specialty — that is 360 Live ID.
The live ID system created by OneCup removes the need for manual tracking and scanning of cattle (and other animals, too). Instead, animals are identified, scanned for health, nutrition, disease and more with an AI system called BETSY: Bovine Expert Tracking and Surveillance System.
AI systems like BETSY are revolutionizing the entire ranching industry by streamlining many of the processes that are no longer working for ranchers. This is important because, with increasing population and food demand coupled with a decreasing number of farmers, each farm must be optimized to produce the greatest quality and number of animals possible while maximizing welfare and efficiency.
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