Technology
Virtual Fencing to preserve ecosystem services
About
The specific objectives that will be pursued will be:
i) to assess the animal’s ability to learn, and so, to avoid the adverse stimulus.
ii) to calibrate and test the VISTOCK model (Bellini et al., 2023) in the specific area for monitoring available aboveground biomass and forage resource along the grazing period
iii) to use the data collected and estimated by the model to sizing the grazing plots
iv) to evaluate the efficiency of the system to manage the herd and the flock within grazing areas virtually delimitated.
v) to assess whether VF impact animal welfare by determining hair cortisol in cattle for chronic stress, and milk yield and cortisol in sheep.
The main constraints are
i) the lack of network coverage in many rural areas, which makes the connection to sensors and the download of real-time data difficult;
ii) the cost of sensors, especially the ones that need to be placed on every animals, whose purchase should be sustained by public funding plan, such PSR;
iii) the lack of digitalization in livestock management which hinder the systems integration to build a comprehensive decision-making tool for farmers;
iv) the availability of cloud-free satellite images to force VISTOCK model.
Index
Workers needed: technical competencies needed, highly skilled workers are needed to make the technological solution work
Index 2
Ease of use: a long period of learning is required to use the technological solution
Index 3
Adaptability: it will not require too much time to be applied
Index 4
Effectiveness: The solution address the challenge / problem
Index 5
Reliability: The innovation is stable enough that no further changes need to be made in the future
Index 6
Cost: Perceived investment needed for the implementation of the innovation is high
Index 7
Greenhouse emissions: impact of technology on greenhouse emissions
Index 8
Water availability: the impact of technology on water availability
Index 9
i) maximize livestock’s biomass intake by applying rotational grazing, thus reducing the amount of feed integration with external sources;
ii) reduce the cost for physical fences installation and maintenance,
iii) reduce the time effort for move the livestock among different grazing lot and for monitoring them;
iv) real-time control on each animal to promptly intervene before health was compromised.
The adoption of virtual fencing, as well as other sensors on animal can be facilitate by public funding initiatives to support the purchase of digital tools on livestock farms. Technical competences on the proper use of such devices should be fostered among farmers to avoid negative impacts on animal welfare. Research is needed to better understand the technology reliability and effectiveness according to species, breed, age, and other factors which could affect animal’s learning capacity and response to cues delivered by VF collars.
Indicators
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Living Labs for testing and implementing this technology
Living Labs as a crossroads for the development of sustainable and resilient technologies for environmental, economic and social progress.
Italy
Technology responsabile
Tech Responsible contacts
Chiara Aquilani
chiara.aquilani@unifi.it
Camilla Dibari
camilla.dibari@unifi.it
References
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