SILENT

HERDSMAN SILENT HERDSMAN LIMITED (UK)

Each cow in a herd is fitted with a Silent Herdsman smart collar, which monitors its health round-the-clock and transmits the data wirelessly to a computer, mobile or tablet. The software tracks each individual cow onscreen in real-time and alerts the farmer to any changes associated with the onset of heat and/or the health of the animal. If there are changes, the farmer will be sent an email immediately to ensure no vital opportunities are missed. This results in optimal fertilisation times, earlier health interventions, and maximum milking efficiency.

Additional software called mySilent Herdsman Health Alert has been developed to provide early identification of animal illness before being observed or identified by a human. Eating and rumination is measured ten times per second, with the graphs displaying the average time spent by the cow eating and ruminating every four hours. Alerts are received when eating and/or ruminating declines. It has been proven to accurately and reliably alert farmers to the signs of illness — most commonly to the early onset of mastitis and lameness.

There’s no impact on the farmer’s working routine, so things can carry on exactly as normal. The system still works even if there isn’t an internet connection and, as the data is available in the cloud, farmers can manage their herd any time, any place, and on any device, enabling them to make important decisions quickly and easily.

PROFILE

Silent Herdsman Limited has developed an integrated hardware- and software-based ‘precision farming’ platform for herd management in the dairy and beef farming sectors. The Silent Herdsman decision-support software tool for the agricultural market was launched in the UK in 2010. This initiative was a result of years of extensive research and development and an output of the Intermediary Technology Institutes program owned by Scottish Enterprise, delivering a condition-based monitoring program for livestock cattle.

› silentherdsman.com› @SilentHerdsman

The Farm Cyborg section of the exhibition explores how over the last decade we have begun outfitting plants, landscapes and animals with sensors, actuators and wearable computers.