Source: en.edairynews.com
New Zealand company Herd-i expanded its automated monitoring over the past year to cover 130 dairy farms in New Zealand and the United States. Its technology uses cameras to identify early signs of lameness and automatically separate animals requiring attention.
According to information published by Farmers Weekly NZ, the number of cows monitored by Herd-i increased by 107% year on year. The platform’s international expansion followed its deployment in New Zealand’s seasonal grazing systems. In the United States, the company has begun commercial operations on farms using housed and semi-confined systems.
The system uses cameras installed in milking facilities and machine learning models. Images are captured as cows walk along the exit lanes from the milking parlour. Overhead and side-view cameras enable analysis of movement, weight distribution and gait mechanics, including small changes in stride length and back curvature.
This analysis aims to identify subclinical signs before hoof deterioration becomes visible to an observer. When the software identifies an irregular gait, it sends a signal to sorting gates during milking. These direct the flagged animals into pens where they can receive attention from a veterinarian or farm staff. The camera infrastructure enables monitoring without relying exclusively on collars or leg-mounted pedometers.
One of the cases described concerns a farm manager, Cronje, who introduced Herd-i’s visual monitoring four years earlier. According to his account, the number of cows separated out for lameness fell from 400 in the first year to 140 in the second season and 30 in the third. The latter figure represents approximately 7.5% of the initial number recorded in that case.
Automated gait assessment reduces reliance on visual observation during milking shifts amid a shortage of rural workers. Farm managers can incorporate diagnostic reports into grazing allocation and pasture movement records. The connection to sorting gates also automates the selection of animals requiring examination.
The published information links early detection to the treatment of hoof lesions and the maintenance of feed intake and body condition. The effects of lameness described include difficulty grazing, lower dry matter intake and reduced conception rates during breeding periods. These effects are compounded by veterinary costs and milk that must be discarded because of antibiotic use.
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