Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
Proposal abstract:
Sustainable livestock production requires growing plentiful forage grazed by healthy animals to produce nutritious protein and warm clothing. Grazing management, specifically mob grazing featuring high stock densities, has been demonstrated to improve soil health and encourage plant biodiversity. While traditionally labor intensive, technological innovations such as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) remote sensing and virtual fencing collars have reduced labor required to implement targeted grazing strategies. Further, biometric data provides critical insight into animals biological well-being. Animal health is the foundation of a livestock production system, for if the animals are ill, they are more likely to underperform compared to healthy animals. To demonstrate the positive impact on sustainability through the application of precision grazing practices made possible by precision technology, we will accomplish the following objectives.
Objectives of study: 1) to collect biometric behavior, spatial utilization, and forage production data from sheep grazing the Northern Great Plains using precision technology already in place on the sheep operations.
Objective 2) Develop an automated classification model using the collected data to identify animals that may be experiencing illness.
Objective 3) Create educational materials and workshops to inform producers of advancing precision technology and the potential applications to implement sustainable forage and herd health practices in their flocks.
This project aims to create an automated classification model for livestock, specifically sheep grazing in the Central Great Plains. The model will take biometric and behavioral data already collected through GPS tracking precision technologies commonly used by ranchers. By analyzing sheep behavioral patterns and flagging deviations, the model will identify animals that may require health interventions. Known health records and treatment histories, provided by ranchers, will help train the model. The outcome will be a practical tool that ranchers can integrate into their daily operations to enhance animal health monitoring and decision making. Outreach to ranchers through presentations at producer conferences to spread the potential of using the model to help inform animal management decisions. Evaluation of outreach will be done with pre and post event questionnaires, along with records of attendance to presentations help at conferences or producer meetings about this project.
Project objectives from proposal:
Through our research and education efforts, farmers and ranchers will learn the latest developments in precision grazing management and remote sensing technology. Real-world demonstrations of grazing practices will facilitate producers' creativity and inspire them to implement more sustainable grazing practices in their operations. Equally important, we will demonstrate improvements in animal welfare and herd health through the monitoring of individual animal biometric data. Ultimately, producers should learn of cutting-edge technological advancements available for livestock management (objective 3), gain an appreciation for sustainable grazing practices (objective 1), and improve health monitoring (objective 2). Achieving these outcomes will support the overall goal of improving the environmental and economic sustainability of sheep producers, through predicted improvements made in the ecological health and resiliency of grazing landscapes, improvements in overall herd health, targeted focus of producer labor, and a greater sense of accomplishment for dedicated producers. Successful research will be measured by the successful execution and data collection on a private sheep ranch implementing sustainable grazing practices (objective 2) and animal health monitoring (objective 2). We will measure changes in producer sentiment to both sustainable grazing and precision technology through producer surveys following educational outreach events (objective 3).