Camarillo-based Semtech’s LoRa wireless technology has been selected by Quantified Ag for trackers that will monitor and report the health of cattle.

Sensors in each ear tag will constantly monitor livestock temperature, movement and other vital signs. The information from the ear tracker is relayed to a receiver, which sends data to a central system in the cloud where it is processed. Then, the information is sent back to the feedlot or ranch for viewing on a dashboard that is accessible via smartphones, tablets, email, SMS or secure website.

According to Quantified Ag CEO Vishal Singh, the method currently used to identify sick cattle is visual observation. For example, if a worker finds a sick animal, it is pulled from its pen and checked. The problem with this approach is that many animals typically do not openly display their symptoms, so humans are not able to notice them until they are very ill.

“With our new LoRa-based health monitoring system for livestock, we are able to remove that human observational element so that animals cannot hide their symptoms anymore,” said Singh. “The sensors in the tags provide feedlot operators the information they need to identify and treat sick animals sooner, which means the operators are less likely to lose livestock to illness and more likely to see them reach their desired weight. All of this adds up to healthier animals and increased productivity for feedlot operations.”

• Contact Glenn Rabinowitz at grabinowitz@pacbiztimes.com.