Novel Technologies and Automation Systems In Livestock Farms

The concept of precision agriculture was first introduced in the 1980s and arose from the need to solve environmental problems such as the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Precision agriculture has made rapid progress by the development of information technology in recent years. Precision agricultural practices are used in animal production with the name of Precision Livestock Farming. Precision livestock farming can be defined as a novel approach to manage livestock farms with sustainable production both economically and ecologically. The development of this management system is provided by the information obtained from sensor technology and automation systems.

The main purpose of this study is to define how novel technologies and automated systems are being utilized to improve the livestock farming. The first question asked for the study is “Which technologies are related to livestock farming?” Second one is “These technological systems can improve the livestock farms in reality?” In the research, peer-reviewed articles obtained from Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus databases were used. The evaluation of novel technologies and automation systems was performed according to their location, production system or measured variables. The results showed that the main success of these novel systems came true on the improvements of animal health. However, less attention seems to be paid to the transportation problems of livestock sector. Considering the precious outcome achieved by the use of novel technologies and automation systems, the utilizing of these technologies in livestock farms must keep being heartened, by taking into accounting the systems costs. Because novel technologies and automation systems offer significant gains in labour productivity and improve decision-making quality.

Keywords: Health; Individuality; Productivity; Precision livestock farming PLF; Welfare.