Advances in Precision Dairy and Beef Farming Technologies

Precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies are gaining significant momentum due to their remarkable ability to measure and monitor physiological and behavioural traits in individual animals. With this data in hand, farmers are equipped with the tools to make more informed decisions which can benefit their farm operations and also ensure that the health and welfare of their animals is optimised. Advances in precision dairy and beef farming technologies provides a comprehensive overview of the range of PLF technologies administered in dairy and beef farming, ranging from the use of machine vision and thermal imaging techniques to monitor dairy cattle health, to robotic milking and the use of virtual herding technologies. The book also reviews recent developments in technologies used to monitor pasture quality, such as remote and proximal sensors. Edited by two leading experts in the field, this book will be a standard reference for university and other researchers in livestock science departments specialising in beef and dairy cattle, farmers, advisers and manufacturers of precision livestock farming technologies, as well as government and other private sector agencies involved in the regulation of new technologies. This book builds on a successful earlier volume published by Burleigh Dodds Science: Advances in precision livestock farming (2022). Professor Daniel Berckmans has been associated with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium for 40 years where he was Head of the M3-BIORES (Measure, Model and Manage Bioresponses) Division for over 20 years as a full professor. His team is widely regarded as a world leader in precision livestock farming, producing over 350 publications and over 450 conference papers, with 17 new products brought to market in collaboration with industrial partners and 20 patents submitted. Professor Berckmans is also editor of Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing’s previous volume Advances in precision livestock farming (published in 2022). Dr Tomás Norton is Associate Professor of Sustainable Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) in the Division of Animal and Human and Health Engineering and research group of M3-BIORES, at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He has co-authored over 100 publications, over 50 conference proceedings and 10 book chapters. Dr Norton is also Chair of Section II and Technical Board of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR) and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. Dr Norton is also Series editor of the Springer Nature Book Series: Smart Animal Production.