15/01/2024 (Japan) - Nikon had developed a system that utilized artificial intelligence to notify farmers when a cow was on the verge of giving birth. This innovation involved the analysis of cow movements through cameras installed on farms. The technology had been launched for sale in Japan in the month at the time of the article.
The primary objective of this technology was to enhance efficiency and reduce the workload for farmers who needed to regularly monitor pregnant cows in the weeks leading up to their deliveries. For a farm with 100 cows, the estimated cost of implementing this system was around ¥900,000 ($6,200) annually. Farmers were alerted about an impending calf birth through a dedicated smartphone application.
Nikon explained that a pregnant cow typically displayed distinctive signs approximately five hours before going into labor. These signs included increased movement and the commencement of the release of the amniotic sac containing the calf.
Data for training the AI had been collected since the fall of 2021, and proof-of-concept experiments had been conducted on four farms in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, starting in February 2023.
During a news conference held in December, Nikon's official, Kazuhiro Hirano, highlighted the advantages of using Nikon's image analysis technology. He expressed the company's future goals, stating, "we want to be able to also detect when a female cow is in heat and other behavioral patterns."
One of the participants in the experiment, Keita Higuchi, a livestock farmer in his mid-30s, expressed satisfaction with the system's functionality. He mentioned that they typically delivered around 60 calves per year and had to check on the expectant mothers every few hours about a month before their due dates. Higuchi found the system to be a valuable and helpful addition to their operations.