A small, innovative, smart livestock ear tag that is set to be a game-changer for the agricultural industry has won the Earth Category of the global competition run by Microsoft and netted the inventors US$10,000 for their win.
Developed by Massey University Engineering PhD students and budding entrepreneurs, Tyrel Glass and Baden Parr, ProTag works like a Fitbit and tracks the activity of an animal.
The internet-enabled device clips onto a cow’s ear, allowing farmers to continuously monitor the animal’s health, grazing and breeding habits.
This information is then sent to the cloud and used to predict if the animal is developing an illness.
Machine learning is used to process data from the device’s temperature, movement, and location sensors, helping farmers map animal behavioural patterns and detect the early onset of illnesses in real-time.
This means farmers are able to undertake preventative health measures that reduce vet fees, boost productivity, and increase animal welfare.
The product idea came from a meeting with a young farming couple who were seeking help to invent a smart ear tag that could give them insights into their herd’s health.
Last year, the device made the finals of Microsoft’s global competition, the Imagine Cup. They entered their idea into the Microsoft competition and beat tens of thousands of challengers from across the Asia Pacific regional finals, before making a world shortlist of 12, and then being named the winner of the Earth category.
They then competed against the winners of the education, healthcare and lifestyle categories, which were won by teams from the US, Kenya and Thailand respectively.
The competition brought together student innovators to tackle social issues with technology and has been run by Microsoft for 19 years.
“It was awesome,” Glass says.
“Following that, we received a lot of interest in what we were doing and that led to expansion of our network and raising our seed round.
“Things are full speed ahead now.”
Their agritech startup ProTag has now raised $1 million from investors to fast-track the development of their smart ear tag sensors, which transmit crucial health and location data to dairy farmers within seconds.
The funds were raised from a variety of sponsors, including Finistere, OurCrowd, Fonterra, Sprout and Callaghan.
The newly raised funds will be used to accelerate the company’s product development and validation in preparation for large-scale trials planned for later this year, with several expressions of interest generated from farmers in Waikato and the South Island.
While the company has its immediate sights on the New Zealand market, where a farmer’s average dairy herd is 440 cows, Ireland and Brazil have been identified as future markets.
Glass says the device is 100 times more power-efficient than other GPS-based devices using bulkier battery packs.
“We see a future where every farmer has detailed information on the health and wellbeing of every animal,” he says.
“The power of remote sensing in animal health is huge and ProTag is the gateway into this data, providing advanced analytics for each animal that can map the whole story of the cow, and at an accessible price point for all farmers.”
“Mastitis, lameness (leg and foot pain), and reproduction issues are the main ailments dairy cattle face. By detecting these early, ProTag paves the way for more sustainable farming and improved animal welfare, fellow co-founder Baden Parr adds.
Associate Professor in Computer Engineering and PhD supervisor of Glass and Parr, Fakhrul Alam says the students have created potentially game-changing technology for the agritech industry.
“Their engineering smarts, combining cutting-edge remote sensing technology and artificial intelligence, will bring crucial insights to dairy farmers,” Alam says.
