Precision Livestock Technologies for the Swine Industry - Challenges and Possible Alternatives

Abstract

Pig farmers are routinely faced with challenges related to market volatility, animal diseases, compliance and regulatory concerns, labor shortage, and changing public demands. Some of these challenges can be mitigated by new technologies, especially to monitor animal health and disease propagation in the pig farms. Precision livestock tools tailored for the swine industry include a number of engineering tools and technologies that help to sense and monitor animal health and provide informed decision-making support for the pig farmers. This review talks about some of the sensors and IoT devices, along with data analytics, suited for the swine industry. We talk about the challenges at the ground level and possible walkarounds of these challenges that could benefit the pig farmers, including changes in regulatory policies, incentives for farmers, and appropriate training and knowhow to operate the new technologies. Livestock health monitoring is a growing field of research and development, and new tools and technologies need to be tailored to the demands of the pig farms while proving better cost to benefit margins for the users. This review attempts to capture the jargon of precision livestock farming while portraying the known benefits of adopting such technologies in the farm.