Smart Tag – Nedap
Livestock Management
The design challenge
Nedap Livestock Management developed a new smart tag: electronics and software for the Nedap dairy management system. Neck tags already had heat detection, but were now also equipped with RealTime positioning. This means the position of each individual animal can be instantly traced on smartphone or tablet. Making the lives of farmers a lot easier!
The solution
In collaboration with Nedap Agris, WeLLDesign developed the neck tag into a mass product. Product development requirements included animal welfare and longevity in a cow shed environment. The team managed to translate these requirements into a modular product with integratable electronics.
Eibergen, 4 oktober 2012, praktijktest Koe Positiebepaling © De Beeldkuil / Marcel Bekken
Wear-resistant and recognizable
The neck tag has made the so-called eating monitoring possible. This allows the farmer to see exactly how long and how much an individual cow eats.
The fibre-reinforced casing makes the tag withstand forces up to 3500N. The yellow bumper ensures durability and visibility, and is easily adaptable to the colours of resellers.
A close-up shows how the Smart tag is positioned around the cow's neck. The cow experiences no restriction whatsoever.
Complete product line
With this new neck label, Nedap introduces a product that fits perfectly into the existing Velos line. The modular construction offers flexibility. The logistical process remains efficient. Partly due to the complete line.
Exploded view of the parts
Design of the leg tag
Leg tag
Together with the Smarttag, the Beacon and leg band also come. The Beacon forms the receiving station for the data of each individual cow. The leg band is there to monitor how long a cow lies, stands and walks, how often a cow gets up and how many steps the animal takes.
Nedap argues for adding standing-lying monitoring as follows: a cow feels comfortable with daily repetition of behavior and events. A cow must lie down for 12 to 14 hours a day, gets up an average of 12 times a day and in principle does as little standing as possible doing nothing. If one of these activities deviates, this indicates a possible problem.
Deviations in the number of steps a cow takes per day can also indicate possible health problems, according to Nedap.
Eibergen, October 4, 2012, practical test Cow Positioning© De Beeldkuil / marcel bekken
Improve your business
With Nedap CowControl you can also improve your farm management on a tactical and strategic level, by using insights into the behaviour of your groups and the total herd. These show you how external factors and management decisions influence the performance of the herd. A tool for you and your advisors to measure and evaluate the influence of (changed) feeding strategies, housing conditions and milking procedures. So that you can continuously make confident choices that increase your business results.
IF award
“This system clearly shows the position of each individual cow in the barn. It detects heat and potentially sick cows, making it easy to manage individual health care per animal. Regardless of the size of the herd. The design is animal-friendly, high-tech, robust, waterproof, sustainable and can withstand life in the barn. The ergonomic shape and weight ensure that the tag remains in its optimal position under the cow's neck. The tag warns the farmer if it is still hanging incorrectly.” – IF Design
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