Applications of Smart Technology as a Sustainable Strategy in Modern Swine Farming

Abstract

The size of the pork market is increasing globally to meet the demand for animal protein, resulting in greater farm size for swine and creating a great challenge to swine farmers and industry owners in monitoring the farm activities and the health and behavior of the herd of swine. In addition, the growth of swine production is resulting in a changing climate pattern along with the environment, animal welfare, and human health issues, such as antimicrobial resistance, zoonosis, etc. The profit of swine farms depends on the optimum growth and good health of swine, while modern farming practices can ensure healthy swine production. To solve these issues, a future strategy should be considered with information and communication technology (ICT)-based smart swine farming, considering auto-identification, remote monitoring, feeding behavior, animal rights/welfare, zoonotic diseases, nutrition and food quality, labor management, farm operations, etc., with a view to improving meat production from the swine industry. Presently, swine farming is not only focused on the development of infrastructure but is also occupied with the application of technological knowledge for designing feeding programs, monitoring health and welfare, and the reproduction of the herd. ICT-based smart technologies, including smart ear tags, smart sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), deep learning, big data, and robotics systems, can take part directly in the operation of farm activities, and have been proven to be effective tools for collecting, processing, and analyzing data from farms. In this review, which considers the beneficial role of smart technologies in swine farming, we suggest that smart technologies should be applied in the swine industry. Thus, the future swine industry should be automated, considering sustainability and productivity.

Morphometric changes on the vulva from proestrus to oestrus of nulliparous and multiparous HYPERPROLIFIC sows

“…The use of modern sensor technologies, such as 3D cameras, to detect indicators of animal growth, health, behaviour and welfare has proven useful in contributing to the development of a ‘precision livestock farming’ (D'Eath et al, 2018; Mahfuz et al, 2022). A remote monitoring tool can provide accurate information and ensure economic benefits of the farm (Mahfuz et al, 2022). In this context, the results of this study show that image analysis of the vulva can be an useful tool to detect the onset of oestrus in gilts and sows.…”

“…Duration of oestrus varies between sows and gilts and thus, in mature sows, oestrus can last 2–3 days whereas in gilts 1–2 days (Steverink et al, 1999; Soede & Kemp, 1997). The development of automated systems that allows for improvements in reproductive efficiency, such as the use of image analysis for oestrus detection, can be an important contribution towards achieving today's and leading ‘smart swine farming’ (Mahfuz et al, 2022). Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse vulvar morphometric variations on hyperprolific gilts and sows during the periovulatory period in order to establish a relationship between these morphometric fluctuations and the onset of oestrus.…”

Thermoregulation mechanisms and perspectives for validating thermal windows in pigs with hypothermia and hyperthermia: An overview

“…Research into the use of IRT with swine seeks to confirm its applicability in new areas of study due to its information on physiological states and animal health. One possibility could be to implement IRT continuously to evaluate the temperature in real time on production units in both individual animals and entire herds and so determine the presence of lesions or infectious diseases ( 161 , 162 ). Although these future applications would be the areas to be developed, it is necessary to establish the reliability of IRT at different body regions.…”

“…However, it is important to emphasize that its use is recommended in conjunction with other innovative methods, such as accelerometers, to evaluate the activity of animals ( 165 ). Other diagnostic tools are computerized tomography ( 166 ), radio-frequency identification, and machine-learning technologies that can estimate animals' productive parameters ( 161 ).…”

Effect of Different Natural and Chemical Ingredients as Repellents of Pigs

“…Among the smart monitoring tools, video monitoring is the most popular technique practiced in modern swine farm (Mahfuz et al, 2022). With the help of video monitoring system, the behavior of individual pig and even a group of pig's behavior can be detected easily (Benjamin et al, 2019).…”