Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/958929
47 farm406 Andrew Uden already knew cattle from working on his family's cow-calf operation and feedlot. He connected with Singh, energized to help solve real-world challenges regarding animal behavior and sickness. Singh and Uden teamed up with Brian Schupbach, creating Quantified Ag (QA) in order to build high-tech ear tags and the technological infrastructure to support them. Each tag has a sensor aimed down into the animal's ear canal to read body temperature. It also tracks head movement and the animal's overall mobility, further indicators of health conditions. Tags are designed for minimal stress and irritation to the animal. The ear tags were first intended for cattle feedlots and stockers/backgrounders, but Singh sees possibilities for other livestock applications and species. "Since the tag already gets temperature readings, I think there could be applications in calving," Singh said. "We haven't done much work in this area other than some early tests to see what may be possible." While current QA ear tags are designed for one animal and are sealed to keep water out, the team is working toward reusable tags. QA installs a high-frequency antenna and base station/ receiver. The receiver is in a box about the size of a rectangular cake pan about 6 inches deep. One receiver can collect data from over 50,000 head of cattle within a two-mile radius. It sends data (18 to 24 readings per day) to cloud-based storage, from which operators can pull data into a smart phone, tablet or computer. Downloaded bar graphs indicate readings and changes. Simple charts correlate temperature and mobility with animals that are getting sick. In addition, the "deep data analytics" possible with the system show longer-term patterns for each animal and for the herd as a whole. For example, data can show handlers when to work with the animals to cause the least amount of stress on them. QA charges a flat fee for installation and infrastructure, plus a per-head charge that includes ear tags and data analytics. When reusable tags are ready, the price per head would be greatly reduced. Selected beta customers are currently using the new system, and QA is expanding as quickly as possible beyond that. Singh said as long as there are people on this planet, there will be livestock they are tending. Helping improve that process means a lot to the people at Quantified Ag. The Quantified Ag Team The smart cattle tags have sensors that monitor the mobility of the animal, the range of motion during mobility and head movements. This way, the tags can tell the difference between normal movements and more lethargic movements. These data points are transmitted wirelessly to a central base station.