New Sensors to Monitor Swine Welfare and Trailer Disinfection Expected by 2020

A new sensor designed to track parameters related to animal welfare during swine transport and monitor the trailer temperatures during disinfection are expected to be ready for use by 2020

by Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

Transport Genie is one of the partners in a Swine Innovation Porc initiative intended to improve the efficiency of washing and disinfecting swine transport trailers.

Sensors, originally designed by Transport Genie to monitor parameters related to animal welfare are being modified to track temperatures achieved during the baking or disinfection of those trailers.

Transport Genie President and CEO Joel Sotomayer says, in terms of the disinfection of these trailers, it’s important be sure the temperatures required to kill pathogens are reached.

“Stress test the financial position of the farm through good, bad and ugly scenarios to validate the ability of the business to assume the increased financial obligations”

 

“In terms of the SIP project, as you know there is a need to find out if every compartment of that trailer is actually reaching the temperature that is required to be considered clean.

“So by putting our sensors in various parts of the container we can validate it to make sure that that section of that trailer actually got to the temperature that was required.

“Presently we can record the GPS coordinates that the driver is using in terms of how they get from point A to point B and we also measure accelerometer.

“In the event that there is an event where braking had to be done in a manner that may have caused some of the payload or animals to be hurt, because there was a hard breaking event, we would also have the ability to record when that happened and, in the near future, have cameras installed and then view what actually happened during that incident.”

Sotomayer says prototype sensors are now being tested to ensure they are able to withstand the rigors of transport and the wide range of temperatures they’ll encounter during disinfection.

He expects a more robust product to be ready within the next year.

Source: FarmScape Online