Project description
Diagnostic monitoring to keep cows healthy
Dairy cows are affected by several diseases related to lactation and pregnancy that are fatal for them. It is estimated that cow mortality due to these diseases is between 20 and 40 % of the livestock. This results in huge economic losses for the industry and further environmental damages. Existing solutions meet only one or two aspects of animal welfare while depending on a few parameters that are not always reliable. The EU-funded rumicon project is developing the first holistic and diagnostic monitoring solution that counts a wide range of direct and indirect parameters covering all aspects of cow welfare. It consists of a bolus sensor integrated into the rumen cow stomach that sends data to a cloud-based system to be processed with machine learning and algorithms.
Objective
High performance dairy cows have a reduced lifespan (from 5.4 years on average to 20) and high mortality, due to the number of diseases associated to pregnancy/lactation. This represents a major environmental and economic issue for dairy farmers: only in Germany, around €2.1 billion are lost each year due to forced cattle rejections.
Holistic monitoring systems are greatly needed to improve cow’s welbeing and minimize cattle forced rejection rates (currently 20-40% of the livestock). However, current monitoring solutions focus only on one or two aspects of cow’s wellbeing (oestrus, calving, health status or feeding), and rely on just a few parameters which may not be entirely reliable (e.g. rumen pH measurements).
rumicon is the first holistic and predictive monitoring system for dairy cows. Integrated into the rumen stomach of heifers, our bolus sensor measures a great variety of parameters (both direct and indirect), including rumen’s motility - the most accurate health indicator in ruminants. In this way, our system is the first one to monitor ALL aspects of cow’s wellbeing with a single device. The gathered data is sent to a cloud base computing system, which processes it with Machine Learning algorithms and creates charts and tables. Thus, all information is easily accessible, and alarms/notifications are directly sent to farm managers and veterinarians when needed, for them to take action before the problem affects milk production. In this sense, by using our system, farmers will be able to extend their herd’s life expectancy by 20-30% (up to 7 years), reducing cattle forced departures in 25%.
Moreover, for our company, dropnostix gmbh, rumicon will be the core pillar of our business, with which we aim to reach about 1,600 large dairy farms and revenues of €17.13 million in the first 5 years of commercialization. For this purpose, we will rely on a solid value chain within the European dairy industry, including key institutions and cattle associations.
Fields of science
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedairy
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineobstetrics
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
14471 POTSDAM
Germany
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.