CREA selects Irish Dairy Master for animal monitoring activities within the Pascal-Ando project.

MooMonitor + System won the first prize for agricultural innovation provided by Enterprise Ireland, the Government Agency for Trade and Innovation, the world’s first venture capital to support the development of agri-tech projects in the name of sustainability and animal welfare. .

The Council for Research in Agriculture and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy – Center for Research on Sutechnics and Aquaculture (CREA-ZA) selected an Irish Dairymaster to monitor the animals within the Pascal-Ando project, and provided funding for 2014-2020. Rural Development Program in the Lombardy Region. In addition to CREA, the partners are the University of Milan Bicoka and the Lombardy Regional Breeders Association (ARAL).

As part of the two-year project, innovative technologies are being applied for the sustainable management of alpine pastures. The Andosi Plateau in Valchiavanna (Madesimo, Sondrio), located at an altitude of 1800-2000 m above sea level and spread over an area of ​​about 350 hectares, was chosen as the site of the exhibition.

In recent decades, grazing systems have been declining. As CREA’s Milena Polo explains: “It is estimated that 11% of EU farmland is at risk of abandonment in 2015-2030. However, mountain pastures not only allow for the production of high quality food by augmenting usable resources, but also provide services to the community such as conservation of usable landscape, biodiversity conservation and soil conservation. Water resources “.

Technological innovation plays a crucial role in ultimately profitable and sustainable pasture animal husbandry.

Pascal-Ando project

The project uses electromagnetic sensors for soil mapping, a drone with multi-spectral camera for mapping of flora, GPS to track animal movements, and the Moo Monitor + app to monitor livestock activity and well-being.

Moo Monitor + is designed by the Dairymaster of Ireland. The system received the first prize for agrarian reform from Enterprise Ireland, the Government Agency for Trade and Innovation, the world’s first venture capital to support the development of agri-tech projects in the name of sustainability and animal welfare.

Artificial Intelligence, Sensors, Wearables, Automation, Data Analytics: This is not science fiction in the green Irish pastures. In Ireland, herds of cattle live freely, yet not a single cow goes unnoticed by the farmer or his smartphone. Instead of the traditional cowboy hat, the cows wear a monitor +. This soft collar contains sophisticated wireless technology that allows you to easily monitor the heat, blow, feed, walk, rest, and therefore the health of each cow 24 hours a day.

Irish MooMonitor + Technology

Italo Guarneri of Tecnozoo, which introduces new dairymaster technologies to Italian model companies, explains: “With the app, you can remotely monitor livestock wherever it is. When the system detects non-optimal parameters, it immediately sends a notification to the farmer’s smartphone, allowing immediate action “.

As researchers point out, the relationship between behavior and animal welfare is twofold. For example, estrus underestimates the lack of speculation that requires attention. In fact, behavioral changes occur before symptoms appear, which can be highlighted with Moo Monitor + Active 24/7. This is especially important when grazing, as it is more difficult for farmers to monitor the livestock and intervene immediately.

The data collected using the PASOCOL-Ando Moo Monitor + can provide information about the activity of the animal in the mountain pastures as an indicator of the well-being and behavior of the cows and help make it more efficient. Maintenance of mountain pastures.