The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has created a new type of ‘Fit Bit’ to help farmers keep track of where their livestock were and what they were doing.
The new technology, developed in partnership with agtech start-up company, Ceres Tag, is in the form of a smart ear tag that produces similar data to that delivered by consumer smart watches.
Using the device, farmers can track where their herds graze, if an animal has escaped or been stolen, and even unusual movements which could indicate an animal is giving birth or is sick.
The aim is to save farmers time and money compared to the costs of manually tracking their herds using vehicles or aircraft.
Group Leader at CSIRO, Ed Charmley said Australian farmers needed every bit of help they could get right now.
“Our focus for future iterations is to create a smaller and lighter tag, as well as added functionality such as a temperature sensor, which could alert farmers to illnesses at an earlier stage,” Dr Charmley said.
“The tags aspire to be the world’s first smart ear tag accredited for provenance to international traceability standards, including Australia’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS).”
He said they were designed for improved retention and to last throughout the life of the animal in Australia’s unique and often harsh conditions.
“CSIRO and Ceres Tag will release further iterations of the smart ear tag, drawing on CSIRO’s deep livestock knowledge and the sensing and data analytics expertise of its technology arm, Data61,” Dr Charmley said.
