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Herd of AI startups milking the Internet of Cows

Companies worldwide are pioneering AI in a cattle industry revolution. by SCOTT MARTIN A pasture of startups promises to beef up the cattle industry. These pioneers in what’s become known as the Internet of Cows are using image recognition algorithms to help detect cattle health issues and serve up analytics for improvements to farm management in the multibillion-dollar dairy and beef markets. Companies dotting the globe — in Israel, Canada, Ireland, Amsterdam, India and the U.S. — have been focused on boosting cattle production as AI has come to the fore of agriculture in recent years. “We have an Internet of Things approach,” said Joy Parr Drach, CEO of Advanced Animal Diagnostics. “Point of care for us is point of cow.” Morrisville, N.C.-based AAD has a commercial portable dairy testing device and is in trials with its device targeted at the beef cattle industry. AAD uses AI to analyze images of fluorescing white blood cells in a drop of milk or blood. Using deep learning algorithms, the device determines quantities of each type of white blood cell, translating the results into animal health status. AAD processes animal tests on its servers running NVIDIA GPUs, tapping machine learning to differentiate infection-fighting cells. AAD’s QScout farm testing device aims to predict animal performance and detect infections in beef cattle before they appear. Its internet-connected portable lab can shuttle results to the cloud and provide alerts to red flags in the health of cows. Its testing unit can also keep tabs on the health of cows for milk production. The testing device can monitor for elevated types of certain white blood cells in cows, an indicator for mastitis, which is inflammation of the udder’s mammary gland that can threaten milk production. Using these new technologies can provide early detection and enable farms to head off […]

Alternative protein reports published

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Plant & Food Research have released their joint report: The evolution of plant protein – assessing consumer response. The report was commissioned to assess consumer responses to protein and highlight the potential impacts to the New Zealand agricultural industry. New Zealand’s social, environmental, and economic well-being is linked to New Zealand’s ability to supply the rest of the world with protein. New Zealand’s animal-based protein export revenue alone accounts for 60% of New Zealand’s total primary exports. This demand will grow as the global population is set to increase to 8.1 billion by 2025. “This is the very first exploratory piece of work MPI has done in this area. The report explores how consumers have become more aware of the long-term impacts of food production and signals change for traditional animal protein producers. “The findings will inform our work programme to support primary sector resilience in the face of these impacts and changing consumer habits. “The report also includes opportunities to create value through a point of difference for traditional New Zealand products,” says Jarred Mair, acting deputy director-general for policy and trade. “In order for New Zealand to retain a competitive edge in our primary exports, we want to ensure we are looking ahead at what the future consumer might demand in our products and what opportunities are available for our sector,” says Dr Jocelyn Eason of Plant & Food Research. To assess where markets are heading in the next 5 years the report analysed consumer responses to plant-based proteins released in the United States and consumer attitudes to proteins in China. Our research has shown that wealthy western economies such as the US will require an innovative product that meets consumer needs. The key findings of the report include: Progress towards new […]

Sheep and beef farmers working with nature to create profit

New Zealand agriculture is facing increasing pressure to change how it operates and lower its environmental footprint, with the mantra ‘produce more for less’ thrown around regularly. The pressure is being driven by a growing sense of social conscience amongst consumers, who are developing a greater connection to where their food is from, coupled with significant growth in environmental compliance regulation from government, says farm business coach and Growfarm® Managing Director Brendon Walsh. In response to this, Walsh is urging sheep and beef farmers to be open to change, to get the right support and advice, and focus on farming for profit over production so they can continue to form a strong backbone for rural New Zealand. While dairy farmers have been at the front of queue when it comes to public and government scrutiny, Walsh cautions sheep and beef farmers, “don’t wait to become public enemy number one, front foot the change”. Change is disruptive and it’s happening quickly, says Walsh. “The volatility in markets coupled with the rapid pace of change in technology, farming practices, and government and consumer expectations can overwhelm some people”. However despite an historic perception that sheep and beef farmers are averse to change, Walsh says there is no need to fear the change. There is evidence of farmers successfully using the right systems and the right support to create profitable farm businesses that work sustainably with the environment. Walsh is quick to point out the pressure for change is not simply for environmental reasons; it’s also good for farmers’ business and their lives. “Historically and now business results and profitability have been pretty poor, land values have risen, and farming habits are just not delivering decent spare cash for many in the sector”. As a Growfarm® business coach, Walsh works with sheep […]

Fieldays launch NZ Award-Agricom

New innovations improving primary industry. Day two of the 50th New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays kicked off with the Innovations Awards breakfast where a selection of New Zealand’s top innovations were on display, all with creative ideas on improving New Zealand’s agricultural industry. New Zealand National Fieldays Society CEO Peter Nation spoke of the importance of innovations at the National Agricultural Fieldays.“One of the main reasons the New Zealand agricultural industry is so recognised and respected around the world is because of the innovations coming from awards like these. The people here today are shaping the future of farming and will be making major changes in in the industry in another 12months.” Says Nation. The entrants were supported by a group of knowledgeable and insightful sponsors who have provided advice around law, research, networking, engineering, technology and science. Judges spoke of how the winners were successful at picking good problems to solve and being very creative in the way they solve them. Innovations that were easy to use, cost-effective, efficient and enhanced value came away with top honours. The 2018 Innovation Award winners are: Fieldays Grassroots Prototype Award – Acuris Systems This prototype robot, autonomously navigates kiwifruit orchards while capturing highly accurate fruit data. This data is then analysed to provide growers with quality information and insights to their orchards performance. Fieldays Grassroots Established Award – Pamu Farming New Zealand Landcorp has just completed its second season of deer milking in partnership with the Peter and Sharon McIntyre. Significant, world first research and intellectual property has been developed from behind the farm gate through to a finished RMP approved product which Pāmu Foods can now use to assess market demand and price tolerance. Fieldays Prototype Highly Commended – Maraeroa C Incorporation. Ginseng Berry Gin is a New Zealand first made from […]

Robotics Plus signs global deal for robotic apple packers

Jamie Lunam and Dr. Alistair Scarfe. Deal highlights demand for agricultural automation technology; follows recent investment from Yamaha Motor Co. to accelerate company’s growth. Robotics Plus, a New Zealand agricultural robotics and automation company, has signed an agency and distribution agreement with GlobalPac Technologies which will see the company’s revolutionary robotic apple packers go global. The deal, which will initially target the US, Australian and New Zealand markets, is fuelling a period of accelerated growth for Robotics Plus as industry demand for its innovation grows. GlobalPac Technologies is a joint venture between United States company Van Doren Sales and New Zealand-owned Jenkins Group. Robotics Plus CEO Steve Saunders says between the two companies, Van Doren and Jenkins have a presence in almost every packhouse in New Zealand, Australia and the US. “We see enormous potential in our new relationship with GlobalPac Technologies. Naturally their global packhouse relationships offer exciting opportunities for us to expand distribution of our apple packers to markets beyond New Zealand, but more importantly, they share our vision for the future of packhouse automation. Together we aim to transform the global horticulture industry.” Jenkins General Manager, Jamie Lunam, says: “Apple packhouses already use automation extensively for sorting and grading, but the process of arranging apples in trays for export is still highly labour intensive. “Labour shortages are a major and growing concern in New Zealand and many other food producing countries. We see Robotics Plus and their packing technology as game-changing for the industry. It is a very exciting time to be involved in helping to affect this positive change.” Van Doren CEO, Brett Pittsinger says the global apple industry has been packing apples the same way for decades. “Labour shortages are now causing major headaches for packhouses in the United Sates. It’s exciting to see the […]

Company Profile: MSugar finds their sweet spot

“The less human intervention the better, that’s what customers want to see,” says MSugar Managing Director Jay Spittal. MSugar relocated to premises in East Tamaki in mid-2017, and just last month commissioned a new, state-of-the-art fully-automated liquid sugar processing plant to serve customers in the food and beverage manufacturing and beekeeping industries. “Humans make errors and errors can cause contamination, so we’ve built the highest spec plant we could to eliminate that risk,” says Jay. Building a new plant was the way forward MSugar has been trading cane sugars and other food commodities since 2009. Four years ago, the company also began supplying liquid sugar to beekeepers, who use it as a food supplement for bees, and to small-to-medium size food grade customers. “We used a contract manufacturer to start with and they were very good, but after two years we’d built the business up to a point where capacity was holding us back and building a new, automated processing plant was the only way forward.” “With financial analysis and the advice of our accountant and business adviser Karen Tobeck at Monteck Carter we built a business case and took that to our bankers, and thankfully they gave us their support and the funding we needed.” The market for liquid sugar is large in volume terms – millions of litres – but it’s not a spectacular growth market. The commitment to building a new processing plant was one piece in the strategy that MSugar is pursuing to carve out a competitive position in liquid sugar and to succeed by providing exceptional service and a quality product. “With our trading background we understand that ‘sugar is sugar,’ though we’d also argue there are quality differences determined by refining sources and processes. We identified ways to serve customers better by doing things […]

Boost for New Zealand beverage market

Fonterra Farmers see first-hand the operations at the new plant. Two New Zealand companies have teamed up to install a state of the art technology at the Apollo plant in Whakatu, Hawke’s Bay, that will bring some of the best in fruit and dairy beverages to Kiwis’ across the country. The agreement between Fonterra Brands New Zealand and Apollo Foods, an innovative start-up company, will help both companies capitalise on the increasing global popularity for lifestyle beverages. Apollo’s new operation includes innovative beverage filling technology which allows a range of different containers to be produced on site and filled with a range of different products on the one production line. The technology at the plant provides market leading quality control and allows for a superior fresh taste experience over an extended shelf life. This provides opportunities for outlets to stock a greater range of products and in turn gives consumers more choice. Managing Director of Fonterra Brands New Zealand Leon Clement, said a global surge in demand for dairy and fruit beverages presents a fantastic opportunity for both companies. “As high-quality drinks play an increasingly large role in consumers’ diets around the world, New Zealand companies have a real opportunity to create value-adding initiatives across our primary industry sectors,” said Mr Clement. “By taking an innovative partnership approach to production with Apollo Foods, we have been able to open up new opportunities for future brands – and create even more value for our farmers.” The Apollo Foods state of the art facility will have the capacity to produce millions of litres of beverages each year. It will allow Fonterra Brands New Zealand and Apollo Foods to take the lead in their respective categories and benefit from new technology to supply consumer drinks to the growing market. Ross Beaton, Managing Director […]

Farmers urged to be well prepared this Moving Day

OSPRI urges herd owners changing address on Moving Day this year to be vigilant about registering animals and recording movements to enable ongoing traceback and animal health surveillance. Farmers should carefully consider whether they need to move their livestock and take steps to minimise movements where possible. All livestock must be NAIT tagged and their movements recorded in the NAIT system. Farmers should also avoid mixing animals as much as possible to reduce the risk of cattle disease and contamination. That is, the NAIT number will not move with the herd. Instead, the person in charge of animals (PICA) must register a new NAIT number and record a movement for the animals that have moved. A departing herd manager who is the registered PICA for the herd they manage may apply to change the PICA for their NAIT number. This will allow the new PICA to continue to use the same NAIT number for an existing location if required. If you are moving farms, or buying/selling livestock, OSPRI advises that you consider the following actions to minimise the risk of the spread of disease and to ensure you are fulfilling your NAIT and TBfree obligations: Check that your NAIT contact details are up to date in preparation for Moving Day. Register a NAIT and TBfree herd number at all of the locations you manage where cattle are kept. Two or more properties within a 10km radius can use the same NAIT number. Tag and register your animals and record all livestock movements in the NAIT system. Make sure that livestock moving from a designated TB movement control area have had a pre-movement TB test within 60 days and/or have been issued a permit to move. Check the status of any incoming stock or a purchased new herd and whether it […]

Drought will bring more crop disease, scientists warn

New Zealand’s land-based primary industries need to get ready for more, and more serious, crop disease as climate change causes more and longer droughts, according to new research. In the journal Australasian Plant Pathology, the authors say that climate change is expected to bring more droughts in many parts of New Zealand, and more droughts are “likely to increase the severity of a wide range of diseases affecting the plant-based productive sectors”. Scientists from the Bio-Protection Research Centre, Scion, Lincoln University, AUT University, Landcare Research, and the University of Auckland analysed the potential impact of climate-change-induced drought on several commercial plants and their diseases. They found that in most instances “increased drought is expected to increase disease expression”. The probable negative effects of drought include “…a predisposition of hosts to infection through general weakening and/or suppressed disease resistance”. More frequent and more severe droughts could also lead to “emergence of enhanced or new diseases of plants that can reduce primary production”. “New plant disease pressures are expected to occur… with potentially devastating impacts for New Zealand’s productive sectors,” the authors said. But the news is not all bad. “Drought may reduce the severity of some diseases, such as Sclerotina rot of kiwifruit and red needle cast (RNC) of radiata pine,” they said. And in some cases it could “activate systemic defence mechanisms resulting in increased resistance to infection”. In an extended case study the authors said that the effects of increased drought on New Zealand’s Pinus radiata industry would depend on many factors, including whether drought happened early or late in the season. “There is urgent need to study the impacts of the different levels of drought and different levels of RNC severity to understand the thresholds at which radiata pine plantations would still accomplish their economic and ecological roles.” […]

Government right to signal need for change in NZ agriculture

A Lincoln University expert says Environment Minister David Parker is right to signal New Zealand agriculture cannot continue with business as usual. Senior lecturer in Agribusiness Management, Dr Nic Lees, said intensive dairying is currently profitable only because it is not bearing the full costs of its production systems. “It is not paying the cost to the environment of its production. We are all picking up the tab, and especially our children for the impact on our waterways and climate,” he said. “Currently intensive dairy farming is addicted to high production per cow. This means adding in concentrated feed such as palm kernel and high levels of nitrogen fertiliser. This increases costs, which means these systems are only profitable with high production and high commodity prices.” Dr Lees said this shows New Zealand’s future is not in maintaining our position as the lowest cost producer of meat and dairy products. “The longer that the beef and dairy industries hold on to a commodity model based on increasing output and lowering costs the greater will be the future farmer pain. “I think we need to have conversations around “peak cow” and the future of our animal production industries.” He said the Labour Government is clearly signalling New Zealand’s future is not in commodities. “Facing up to “peak cows” will benefit New Zealand and farmers in the long term. It is either some pain now or a lot of pain later. “If not, alternative proteins will take out our commodity agricultural products in the same way nylon took out wool as a fibre.” Minister Parker has said there is potential to change towards cropping, horticulture, which are high-value land uses, Dr Lees said. “He is right to say there are too many cows, however the potential for cropping and horticulture to replace […]

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