Industry 4.0 and Precision Livestock Farming (PLF): An up to Date Overview across Animal Productions

Abstract

Precision livestock farming (PLF) has spread to various countries worldwide since its inception in 2003, though it has yet to be widely adopted. Additionally, the advent of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) have enabled a continued advancement and development of PLF. This modern technological approach to animal farming and production encompasses ethical, economic and logistical aspects. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of PLF and Industry 4.0, to identify current applications of this rather novel approach in different farming systems for food producing animals, and to present up to date knowledge on the subject. Current scientific literature regarding the spread and application of PLF and IoT shows how efficient farm animal management systems are destined to become. Everyday farming practices (feeding and production performance) coupled with continuous and real-time monitoring of animal parameters can have significant impacts on welfare and health assessment, which are current themes of public interest. In the context of feeding a rising global population, the agri-food industry and industry 4.0 technologies may represent key features for successful and sustainable development.

Technological Tools for the Early Detection of Bovine Respiratory Disease in Farms

“…The weaknesses, threats, strengths, and opportunities (SWOT) of the BAS technological tools for early diagnosis of BRD are detailed in Table 2 . On the one hand, they are continuous, objective, individual, non-invasive and remote monitoring systems [ 23 , 27 ]. Thus, they manage to monitor animals’ health without interrupting their natural behavior (except for pedometers and feeding stations that require habituation) [ 27 , 45 , 46 ].…”

“…Thus, they manage to monitor animals’ health without interrupting their natural behavior (except for pedometers and feeding stations that require habituation) [ 27 , 45 , 46 ]. In addition, being objective means that they do not depend on weather conditions, emotions or worker’s experience [ 23 , 27 ].…”

“…Other remarkable threats could be the replacement of staff by robots, although that is currently unthinkable since these technologies demand highly skilled labor for maintenance and repair. These systems may result in a technological dependency, which can lead to impacts related to a lack of supply of system components or a need for electricity or internet connection on the farm [ 23 ].…”

“…Diagnosis of BRD in cattle is usually based on visual assessment of clinical signs, with low sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) [ 21 ]. To improve disease detection, technological tools have been developed that objectively measure health and welfare automatically [ 22 , 23 ]. These new technological tools are included under the term precision livestock farming (PLF), defined as “the management of individual animals through continuous real-time monitoring of health, welfare, production/reproduction and environmental impact” [ 2 , 24 ].…”

“…Furthermore, these tools allow the management of a large number of animals and an early diagnosis of diseases [ 26 ]. Using this approach, veterinarians have a list of animals suspected of having BRD that is generated by the system and sent to their phones, tablet or computer, that helps them in making diagnostic and treatment decisions [ 23 , 27 ].…”