Cutting-edge tech

Want to know why you can’t miss the EuroTier 2022? Because it looks like an expo thrown by Tony Stark if he were Porkman. It’s the largest trade show in animal husbandry – known as a platform for innovations and for attracting pig producers like a moth to a flame (or a meat lover to a barbecue). Also, pig innovations have scored one gold and five silver medals! Here are some of the things you must check out (among so many more):

• A system for analyzing pig coughs: a system designed to continuously analyze pig respiratory health status during growing and finishing and can send alerts to the producer via an app;
• Easy lifting of slurry pigs: a battery-powered mechanism that can raise a load up to 1m – in case of wall-mounted slurry stoppers, one leg can be unscrewed;
• A bedding robot: an intelligent robot that independently decides where and how much bedding is required, and plans the following day accordingly;
• Thermochromatic piglet nest heating: sensors that monitor floor heating system elements and change their color at pre-specified minimum or maximum temperatures so producers can easily catch floor heating system issues; 
• A mobile marking station with a 3D camera: the camera determines the animals’ weight  and marks them automatically with spray paint based on certain threshold standards;

A whistleblower weighing system: an ear tag that collects data without disturbing the animals’ natural behaviour and provides real-time information such as feed intake, water consumption, activity, and temperature.