A young Mexican has developed an ear tag for cattle that measures the vital signs of the animal to identify early stages of disease.
Melina Garcia Herrera, a graduate from Universidad Veracruzana (UV), developed the system to facilitate treatment for Mexico’s 31 million head of cattle, aiming to improve industry productivity.
The technology, called LifeMonitor, weighs 40 grams and is able to measure temperature, heart rate and blood pressure in real time to identify disease. The measurements are sent to the cloud, allowing producers to monitor the cattle.
Ms Garcia said: “If something is out of the ordinary, we send a notification via text message to your phone, or email to both the farmer and the veterinarian, to bring effective attention to the animal.”
After successful testing on a ranch, the LifeMonitor is in the process of patenting. The prototype costs $40 and lasts for five years, so the investment cost compared with spending on disease and cattle loss is minimal. It is also applicable in horses, sheep, pets or endangered animals.
“With LifeMonitor we hope to reduce losses by up to 40 per cent, increase productivity of the country in the livestock sector and thus increase the economic flow in Mexico. The main benefit would be to make the country more competitive in livestock,” concluded Melina Garcia Herrera.
Source – The Dairy Site