2025

At the world’s largest cattle-feeding company, early disease detection couldn’t be more important. They’re still working out the details.

They insert rectal thermometers, inject antibiotics, deliver oral drenches, and complete minor and major medical procedures to care for the sick.

Even when deemed successful in their roles, too many animals die; cattle are prey creatures and use every shred of willpower to hide sickness until they’re no longer able.

They cannot see what isn’t yet there to see.

Veterinarians assess and prescribe, barn staff probe and record, and pen checkers ride and inspect, each mirroring various industry approaches to animal health.

Technology has created superior vaccines, more efficient antimicrobials, and improved treatment deliveries, but identifying cattle illness before clinical signs appear has remained an industry challenge.

MyAniML, a Kansas City-based animal health technology company, attended one of these competitions, propelling themselves onto the feedyard’s radar. Their technology uses motion sensor cameras to photograph faces and, more specifically, muzzles. Facial recognition identifies individuals, and AI breaks down video and picture data, assessing muzzle distinctions to predict the onset of illness.

These smart tags collect data and upload it to the cloud, where algorithms correlate it to individual health status.

HerdDogg is a technology company that operates like a benign Big Brother, continuously watching over animal health from afar.

Currently, Five Rivers hasn’t committed to any smart ear tag startups, although they remain interested in their capabilities.

The company’s next goal is to place the device on more dairies and feedyards, screen more animals, and increase awareness while developing a smaller footprint for the next generation of their device.

One biotechnology company developed a rapid farm-based blood test for immune health status.

Computer vision analyzes movements and behavior to identify illness, while internet-connected smart collars detect irregular patterns, including H5N1 avian influenza.

And out-of-the-box software programs are interpreting vocalizations to diagnose sickness.

“Maybe the next pitch we hear will move the ball down the field. If it’s a break-even proposition and the right thing to do, we’ll do it. Even if we lose a little money or efficiency, and it’s the right thing to do, we’ll do it. And especially if an animal welfare breach occurs if we don’t do it, it’s a no-brainer. I’m optimistic. We’re on a slow march but at least we’re still moving.”

Reading distance is one drawback. The ear tags have to be within 100 metres of the router to maintain continuous data flow. However, when cattle are farther away, the tags save data for up to 48 hours and transmit it the next time the animal is within reach of the router.

The SensOor tags perform three functions and each requires its own software module to collect and summarize data. The system was originally developed for use with the fertility software module to detect heat in dairy cattle.

The CowManager SensOor system has to be ordered directly from the manufacturer. As of August, a starter kit including one tag, the health module and co-ordinator for a computer was priced at CAN$109 per tag for up to 100 tags. There is a volume discount in 100-tag increments that drops the price down to $80 per tag for more than 5,000 tags. The router costs $731. The system, including the reusable SensOor tags, has an expected 10-year lifetime and five-year manufacturer’s warranty.