A
new product that can help animal farmers reduce billions of dollars in
heat-related losses was recently released by the University of Missouri.
ThermalAid is a
smart phone app that monitors heat-related stresses on beef and dairy cattle
and alerts farmers when there is a problem. The app also recommends which
intervention strategy will be most effective.
“Cows
are like the rest of us,” said Don Spiers, professor of animal sciences at
Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, and who led the
team that developed the app. “They slowdown in hot and humid weather.
When stressed by too much heat, they stop eating, and thus fail to grain weight
or produce milk.”
Hot
weather means big losses for farmers. “Each summer, the dairy industry loses $900
million nationally in productivity and the beef industry $400 million. And
that’s data from 2003 when the industry was smaller and summers less intense,”
Spiers said.
Inexpensive
App
The
99 cent app receives temperature and humidity data from the weather service
according to the GPS location of the user. The farmer tells the app if it
is beef or dairy cow, if it is in the barn or outside, if it is on the pasture
or feed lot, its health status, and other information.
With
that, the app calculates the animal’s Temperature Humidity Index, or the THI.
If the THI is not stressful, the app shows green for that cow. If heat
stress is an issue, the color goes to yellow and then orange. Red indicates a
life-threatening condition.
The
farmer can also measure each cow’s respiration rate, a good indicator of heat
stress impact on the animal. A built-in timer can assist the user to record the
respiration rate.
When
farmers know that their animals are stressed, they can intervene with
additional shade, fans or water misters to improve comfort and productivity.
The app is tied to a MU database called ThermalNet which provides
additional climate and weather data, as well as tips to manage heat stress.
ThermalNet
has the ability to allow farmers to communicate with experts at MU Animal
Science.
Improved
Version Coming
ThermalAid
took more than two years to develop. This app will automatically pull in
ambient temperature and humidity data from sensors that the producer places at
different locations on the farm site, thus increasing accuracy of the THI
calculation. Future updates might include information from sensors placed on
individual animals.
If
temperature and humidity conditions exceed a certain limit, the app warns the
farmer that a cow is experiencing heat stress.
The
upcoming app will create a regional database of heat stress information, giving
farmers a new tool to combat losses, and scientists associated with the project
will use the new information to develop better predictors of the impact of heat
stress on animals.
“Ideally,
we need temperature modules placed in different locations on the farm site that
provide real-time readings and inputs — but that development is costly at
present,” Spiers said. The challenge is to make a cost-effective product that
is reliable and durable in a field environment.
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