Smart pig farming

As demand for meat rises and livestock farms become larger, it is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to keep track of individual animals. Precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies are innovative animal management systems that allow farmers to closely monitor their animals' health and welfare.

The EU-funded ALL-SMART-PIGS (Practical implementation of precision livestock technologies and services at European pig farms using the living lab methodology) project is developing a data collection and management system for PLF application in commercial farms.

Called Farm Manager, the ALL-SMART-PIGS system will collect data on animal weight, feed, air quality and respiratory diseases. This information, provided to farmers via software tools, will allow them to monitor key performance parameters like animal health, growth rate and feed usage.

Project members are demonstrating these tools in living labs based at four pig farms in Spain and Hungary. This will enable researchers to test and validate their prototypes and services in real-life conditions with pig farmers and other food operators.

So far, their technology has met with challenges such as limited internet connection at remote locations and incompatibility with sensor systems for monitoring feed usage. Researchers are working on improving their software and electrical systems installed at the living labs to address these challenges.

If successful, this project's outcome will be an entirely new service concept and business model called Smart Pig Farming Application. Although initially developed for pig farmers, once commercialised the model can be extended to other livestock farms.

ALL-SMART-PIGS will help livestock farmers keep up with the rising demand for meat while looking after their individual animals' needs.