In case you missed it … 4 cow tech startups step into the spotlight
Plus, shockwave therapy for mastitis gets a U.S. distributor
Here are the headlines and snippets about cow tech posted on the web in the past week that you might be interested in. I've also included articles that aren't specifically cow tech related but that I think have something to teach about how cow tech should be applied.
The Animal Ag Tech Innovation Summit is quickly approaching on Sept. 14. The event will be held virtually.
Typically held twice annually – in San Francisco and Amsterdam – the summit is an international networking and deal-making event aimed at advancing the animal agriculture industry through innovation and collaboration.
As part of the fall version of the summit, 10 startups will pitch their innovative technologies during a showcase competition. Four of the 10 competitors represent cow technologies.
Put these companies on your radar to watch.
Cattle Eye from Ireland claims it has created the world’s first autonomous livestock monitoring platform. Its deep-learning AI platform is designed to interpret the visual imagery of livestock from web cameras and extract insights about those cows.
Micron Agritech from Ireland has developed Tástáil, a portable testing kit that allows farmers or vets to detect parasitic infections in cattle nearly instantly and on-site.
Pharm Robotics from the U.S. offers a completely robotic solution to improve the process and accuracy of injecting breeding hormones and vaccinations.
Zelp from the UK is developing smart wearable technology for cattle that neutralizes livestock methane exhalations. The wearable also gathers unique emissions-related data to improve animal welfare, optimize herd management and quantify emissions.
These startups will be quizzed on the viability of their technologies and business models by seasoned animal ag tech investors as part of the competition.
To see the full program and speakers for the summit or to register, go to www.animalagtecheurope.com
Armenta, an Israeli-based company that markets a low-intensity, shockwave therapy to treat bovine mastitis, announced it has entered into agreement with Cowsultants to distribute the company’s treatment devices in the U.S.
VAS announced this week that dairies that process milk samples with VAS/AgSource can now receive insight into the fat-related components in their milk production on the company’s herd management platform.
Milk fat is comprised of different types of fatty acids. Milk sample analysis using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy has made analysis of milk fat ratios easier. The company’s new report organizes the analyzed milk fats into three distinct categories to make visualizing the test information easier. Observing changes in the ratio of the fatty acids can give dairy owners and nutritionists insights into feed-to-milk efficiency, rumen health and other aspects of herd management that impact milk components.
Ultra high frequency (UHF) ear tags were recently announced as the identification of choice for a multi-state animal ID platform operated by CattleTrace. The voluntary traceback program hopes to eventually expand to become a voluntary nationwide program for U.S. cattle disease tracing.
This article describes how machine learning is struggling to solve real-world problems because the emerging field of study is focused on “novel concepts” and “high-impact results” from researchers instead of practical applications for industries.
The article suggests AI solutions may be looking to solve the wrong pain points:
For example, most studies applying deep learning to echocardiogram analysis try to surpass a physician’s ability to predict disease. But predicting normal heart function would actually save cardiologists more time by identifying patients who do not need their expertise.
For companies trying to apply machine learning to cows, this likely means focusing applications on identifying deviations, then alerting humans to review them and finally absorbing human diagnosis about the anomaly in order to improve the computer’s deep-learning model.
On a related note, here’s an article about how Chinese dairy farms are using computer vision and machine learning to manage herds.
And finally …
This week I listened in on Farm Journal’s Field Days and one of the comments that stood out to me the most was from Dr. David Kohl of Virginia Tech University. He said advancements in applied physics defined the last century and that application of biotechnology would define this current century.
With that in mind, I found this article interesting. It’s about how researchers are using cloned, genetically modified dairy cows to produce human antibodies to fight COVID-19.