Everyone knew the day would come when cows would begin to develop artificial intelligence. That day has arrived.
Well, not really.
But farmers have certainly gained a valuable new piece of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that gives them omniscient powers of oversight over their cattle herds. This technology is called ida – The Intelligent Dairy Farmer’s Assistant – and was developed by the Dutch company Connecterra.
The aforementioned omniscient powers of oversight mean what they sound like they mean for these farmers. All farmers need to do is attach a sturdy little sensor around the neck of each of their cows. Once attached, the sensor starts to record the movements of the cow. Ida then uses AI algorithms to decipher what the incoming data means in order to learn more about the cow’s behavior. The results are conveniently sent to the tablets and smartphones of the farmer, allowing the farmer to monitor the well-being of every cow in real-time.
Ida keeps farmers aware of cattle well-being insights on a herd and individual basis such as estrus, breeding efficiency, calving alerts, feeding habits, health, and heat stress. With ida’s help, nothing will happen on the farm without the farmer knowing about it.
Ida does not have any limits. As long as every cow has a sensor, data gets transmitted to a powerful base station. This base station is integrated with remote field access points which allow the entire farm to fall under ida’s surveillance. It doesn’t matter if your farm is small or large, ida has you covered.
This is groundbreaking AI technology. But while ida has been around for several years, it has been gaining greater popularity as more farmers recognize how amazing and time-saving the services that ida offers are. The Voice of America recently reported the success that Richard Watson – a cattle farmer in Waynesboro, Georgia – has enjoyed through use of ida. He was one of the first American farmers to use ida, and he reports that having ida keep track of the behavioral status of his each of his 2,000 cows has been able to help him improve the efficiency of his farm by up to 10 percent. And if you look at his results from more than just a statistical perspective, it becomes obvious that a more efficient farm means happier and healthier animals. Ida is clearly an animal-rights activist.
An ida cow is a happy cow.
