Researchers with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are using radio-frequency identification technology to track the feeding behavior of pigs to provide an early warning of disease

Researchers with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are developing autonomous technologies designed to capture data 24-7 to monitor and track individual pig feeding behavior in an effort to provide early disease detection.

Dr. Raj Sharma, a Post Doctoral Research Fellow with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, told those on hand in Saskatoon for Saskatchewan Pork industry Symposium 2024 providing swine producers with real-time insights on what an individual pig eats and drinks will help them identify sick animals more quickly.

 “We are creating these alerts for producers where they just need to focus on one or two pigs when they enter a barn instead of doing a full visual inspection”

 

 

“We use a lot of RFID based technology. We are monitoring pigs going to the feeders and drinkers and by calculating how much time they spend there, how many visits they make, we can sometimes get a pretty good idea if there any underlying conditions because you see obvious changes from their pattern or from the pattern of their peers.

 

“It happens in eating, it happens in drinking, sometimes we are able to point that out.
We actually have a system right now.

 

“We are issuing alerts to the producer saying there’s one pig that doesn’t seem to be doing well when it comes to feeding data.

 

“Finding that pig is a challenge, when you have 110 so we’re working on that part of it, with marking systems to mark pigs that need to be looked.

 

“So, we are creating these alerts for producers where they just need to focus on one or two pigs when they enter a barn instead of doing a full visual inspection. Then you have computer vision. That’s the new exploding field. 

 

“At the University of Nebraska, we have a team. We have New Track that can track pigs.
It’s been proved it works.

 

“So, there are computer vision technologies that provide extremely accurate results that you can track animals and their movements.“

 

Dr. Sharma says the goal is not to replace human caretakers but rather provide tools to make their work easier.

 

He says the shortage of labor in the pork sector is a big concern so the intent is to make systems more interactive and fun that allow caretakers to focus on the more important tasks.