Go Animal Tracking With RFID

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is now part of the food industry’s answer to improved health and monitoring of livestock animals. The system is based on wireless technology which relies on radio waves for collecting data from a tag attached to an animal such as a cow or pig. It is the ideal technology for automatic identification and tracking of these animals. An RFID system comprises of three major components – tags, readers and middleware. RFID tags and readers are further subdivided into active and passive. The active RFID devices are powered by an inbuilt power source while passive RFID devices derive their power from the electromagnetic waves emitted by the readers. RFID printers and cabinets have expanded the scope of application of RFID in healthcare.

From an investment point of view, farm management solutions are some of the newest ideas to emerge which rely on such technologies as RFID. The idea is to rely on smart tags to monitor exactly where your herd is, individual animals and even areas of the range where animals such as pigs and cows migrate to throughout the year. They can even tell you where they are feeding, what they might be eating and when they are breeding. One key feature is traceability.

For some, radio tagging probably ends the age old traditional ways of shepherding. In France, back in 2014, around 45 to 50 sheep farmers protested strongly outside the Tribunal Administratif in Grenoble which adjudicates on civil disputes. France had already made RFID tagging of livestock like sheep and goats compulsory but there was a requirement to duplicate the identification system with a second tag containing a computer chip. This has added cost and proved difficult to monitor.