Livestock Management

RFID Impact on the Livestock Management Sector

Livestock is among the many sectors embracing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID smart reader usage for livestock management is starting to become the standard rather than the exception.

Key Takeaways

  • Traditional metal ID tags are being replaced with RFID tags in livestock management.
  • RFID ear tags are with the animals, and both portable and fixed scanners can track them.
  • RFID is useful by farmers to manage and identify livestock inventories and to capture critical health information for every animal.
  • Governments everywhere are pushing for the application of this technology to improve the control of animal illnesses.
  • The USDA wants to make it mandatory for all livestock participating in interstate travel and shows to have RFID tags.

The Functions of RFID in Livestock Management

RFID is useful in livestock management to monitor and identify individual animals, such as goats, pigs, cows, and bison. Each animal has an easy-to-use applicator tool attached to its ear that attaches a tamper-proof RFID tag in a sturdy plastic casing. A lot of tags consist of two discs that can connect by the animal’s ear. It is like to get your ear pierced. RFID scanners use the unique 15-digit tracking number that is provided to each tagged animal to identify them.

Livestock Management

Farms may scan the tags using either a stationary or a portable RFID reader. While some portable readers have more conventional designs, others resemble wands that may be waved over cattle. Stationary readers can integrate into the traditional scales to weigh livestock, or you can place them within gates through which the cattle walk. The facility’s computer system receives the data gathered from the readers and uses it to link cloud-based tracking systems over the Internet. Real-time monitoring of cattle location is possible with the appropriate kind of readers.

RFID’s Application in Livestock Management

During inventory, farmers must be able to swiftly and readily identify their livestock. For this reason, farmers have traditionally used metal ID tags fastened to the ears of their livestock. Metal tags are being replaced with RFID tags because of their much better functioning. Farmers had to visually read the old metal tags, which took a lot of time and resulted in many mistakes. The old-fashioned tags were more likely to become tangled up in plants and equipment, loosen, and fall off.

Conversely, RFID tags are more robust than conventional metal tags. Because they are read electronically as opposed to visually, human error is not present from the process. You can scan animals in the field, while eating, in the chute, or anywhere else. The tags don’t need the animals to be still for scanning. 

Extra Advantages of RFID Monitoring

Farmers can do more with wireless RFID reader than merely identify specific animals. An animal’s whole medical history, including information on weight, age, sex, delivery time, offspring, and weight, can be in the tags and software that goes with them. This makes it possible for vets, for instance, to quickly access comprehensive health information about an animal by just scanning its tag.

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