Ky. research team explores using drones to monitor cattle

Beef cattle graze in Montana. (Alamy stock photo)

Almost 3 million U.S. cows die from health problems each year, costing the cattle industry more than $1 billion. Better observation of pasturing cows has been proven to reduce deaths, but the are spread out over wide areas, and monitoring them can be difficult.

A mechanical engineering professor at the University of Kentucky is trying to see if drones are the answer. Jesse Hoagg, aided by a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is working on a way to use drones to monitor cattle. "The drones would provide farmers with a way to remotely and autonomously check on the location and health of each cow — allowing them to address cattle health and safety issues much sooner," Lindsey Piercy reports for UK's College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. "The new system aims to identify each cow in a pasture through unique characteristics such as facial features and measure vital health information like size and physical activity."

The technology would be especially helpful for the many cattle producers who have off-farm jobs, said Josh Jackson, an assistant extension professor who is one of those producers. He said he had the idea when he was trying to find his black Angus in the dark. "It gets tricky to locate cows this time of the year, when the sun sets so early," Jackson told Piercy. "We want to lessen producers' stress by helping them locate their animals quicker and help sick animals faster."