Smart Livestock Farming Solutions (Part 2)

As previously mentioned, understanding the industry as an introduction can lead to precision in movement. In the second part of the report, we will continue to understand and try to study the structure of livestock farms further.

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• Degree of automation of processes:
  • Most activities on the surveyed farms are still carried out manually by human labor.
  • For example, 56% of livestock farms have manual weighing scales.
  • And only 35% is automated (with sensors or computer systems).
  • Environmental indicators such as temperature at the water inlet ( THI ) and water quality are measured manually or not at all in more than 70% of cases.
  • Industrial milking is available in some units.
    • But its data recording is still manual in 80% of cases.
    • And about 15% is monitored by milking machine sensors or a computer system.
  • Feeding and feeding is also done 61% manually and about 29% is mechanized or computerized.
  • Other fields such as
    • Fire detection (only 6% have sensors),
    • Livestock identification and weighing (less than 10% equipped with RFID or automatic weighing) are very poorly automated.

These statistics show that the level of mechanization and intelligence is low and many new technologies (sensors, RFID , IoT ) have not been implemented in most livestock farms.

• Development and investment trends :
  • Almost all respondents have plans to expand their livestock farming.
  • The majority of livestock farmers have a growth-oriented attitude and are particularly focused on developing herd capacity and physical infrastructure.

This indicates a high potential for demand for services and equipment related to livestock development.

• Main challenges and problems: Among the options raised about the current problems of livestock farming, some problems are almost universal. According to the responses:
  • The cost of feed and inputs is the most important concern, marked by 70% of livestock farmers.
  • Then there is the labor problem (shortage or high cost of workers/experts) with 66%.
  • And low production efficiency is next at 51% .
  • The issue of milk and calf selling prices (unstable market or low rates) is a problem for 48%
  • it is almost as much a challenge as equipment and machinery (depreciation, breakdown or equipment cost – ۴۹%) .
  • Daily livestock management (such as insemination, calving, and daily management) was problematic for 43%
  • And livestock issues (breed, diseases, and herd health) were mentioned in 36% of cases.

On average, each farmer has ~ ۳-۴ of these challenges at the same time , indicating that many are dealing with a combination of problems. The table below shows the percentage frequency of each problem:

The table shows that “feed cost” and “labor” are the most widespread problems, while technical-veterinary issues were the least frequent. This prioritization of problems can determine the direction of service provision.

• Status of training and skills development:
  • The training needs of livestock farms were assessed in several areas (budget and costing, animal nutrition, contracts and legal issues, productivity management, and possibly other management areas).
  • Most livestock farmers felt they needed training in at least one of these areas. The option “I need training” was checked by an average of ~ 30% of respondents in each area, indicating that lack of knowledge is one of their concerns.
  • On the other hand, many livestock farmers use consultants to compensate for these deficiencies (the consultant option was selected between 41% and 52% in all areas ).
  • Or they attend specialized classes outside the complex (between 21% and 43% depending on the field).
  • Internal training (relying on in-house learning by experienced employees) is also mentioned by about 20% to 40% .
  • In particular, the training need was felt most in the areas of animal nutrition and contracts/legal matters (the highest percentage of “I need training” was seen in these areas ~ 35–۳۸%)
  • And in the area of productivity management, more people felt unneeded ( 26% said they didn’t need training).

Overall, the training pattern shows that the demand for training and consulting services in the livestock industry is high, and many livestock farmers are either using these services or are willing to use them.

(To be continued….)