Glacier FarmMedia – Use of artificial intelligence tools in farming is expected to grow quickly in the next five years, automating and enhancing farmer decisions.
Most artificial intelligence (AI) uses are at the edges of technologies farmers already use, and may deliver inaccurate answers to queries.
In the dairy sector, there are three main areas where AI tools appear, says Dr. Diego Nobrega, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary: physiology and health, animal reproduction and animal nutrition.
He gave an overview of the potential for AI and some cautions to farmers about the technology at the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar in Red Deer in early March.
Read Also
Feeder market adds New World screwworm risk premium
Feedlots contemplate the probability of Canadian border closing to U.S. feeder cattle if parasite found in United States
“AI is promising to deliver optimized decision making, detection of diseases for us and even optimization of some of the tasks,” he says.
Artificial intelligence needs large datasets to analyze so it has accurate information on which to base a decision.
Agriculture, and specifically dairy farms, are creating greater volumes of data. Accelerometers track cows’ movements throughout the day. Automated milking systems produce vast amounts of data on milk quality and cow behaviour. Cameras, boluses and ear tags add more data.
“The beauty of it is that we can design a machine-learning algorithm that taps into that data that’s being generated constantly and it can make decisions for us,” says Nobrega.
With that much data, a computer could sort out the cow, identify health issues and recommend treatment options.
Automated milking systems are getting close to this already and some companies have started to offer behaviour monitoring using an AI tool.
One of the challenges is to make sure that a tool is accurate enough to be a help, not a hindrance.
For example, Nobrega says some mastitis assessment AI tools aim to detect mastitis before it is obvious. They have an 85 to 90 per cent accuracy rate. That might sound good, but that also means 10 per cent false positives. However, a detailed mastitis tool could reduce use of antibiotics on the farm.
The use of cameras and other sensors can help evaluate the gait of cows to detect lameness early. Those systems, being tested at several universities in Canada, are about 90 per cent accurate.
Other areas of cow health where data could be interpreted by AI for more accurate or quicker decision making include digital dermatitis, heat stress, metabolic conditions such as ketosis, and fatty liver.
Detection of heat and other reproductive factors have come a long way in the past decade, but AI could increase the accuracy and decision-making ability of farmers.
Data could be extrapolated to determine the reproductive state of cows in more detail than is now available without testing or palpation.
Nobrega says he believes there will be application of AI in cattle nutrition, but doesn’t see a lot of examples that are close to the market.
The creation of large language models — artificial intelligence that can synthesize complex questions and give coherent and accurate answers — are growing.
Not long ago there was just ChatGPT, but now there’s also Google’s Gemini, Scite and Perplexity. These conversation computers can be surprisingly accurate, but always check, says Nobrega, because there are regular inaccuracies.
Consider using one of the chat systems that cites where it found its data and continue to consult with a veterinarian on health issues.
Nobrega also recommends being careful about the information entered in the chat box. Google has admitted that it keeps those queries for three years, and there are limits on data security.
Also be careful not to claim information generated or written by an AI as personal intellectual property. Others might own the intellectual property that the AI used to learn about the subject.
“Language models are great,” says Nobrega. “They are like having a virtual personal assistant on your farm, but never share sensitive information.”
