LiveCare LoRa-based IoT system enables accurate analysis of a cow’s health and milk producing ability.
Semtech Corporation announced that SK Telecom, one of South Korea’s largest telecommunication providers, has created an IoT cattle healthcare solution leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® Technology.
The product, LiveCare, is a LoRa-equipped bio-capsule which is implanted into a cow’s gastrointestinal tract and monitors for a variety of health indicators.
“Semtech’s LoRa Technology allows us to monitor cow health in real-time,” said Taehee Moon, Project Leader for the Small Farm Project Group of SK Telecom.
“Our unique solution lets farmers know immediately when a cow’s health is compromised. It takes the guesswork out of farming and lets the rancher focus on preventing cattle disease. Healthier cows mean more milk can be produced and dairy farms can focus more on growing their business.”
LiveCare’s LoRa-based IoT hardware is embedded in a bio-capsule, and the device implants itself in a cow’s ruminant stomach to continuously collect data. Ranchers monitor the data transmitted from the devices for anomalies in a cow’s body temperature and other vitals to detect the onset of disease, estrus and to forecast delivery of calves. Unlike other solutions, the LiveCare device is shielded from being tampered with by outside conditions due to its strategic position inside the cow itself.
This solution is expected to drastically improve the quality of life for the cow and by extension the cattle as a whole on the dairy farm. Healthier cows result in higher quality of milk, meat and higher earnings for the farmer. A trial run on a South Korean farm using the technology showed an increase in annual milk harvest of 1,200 liters per cow, an increase of $1,100 in income per cow for the farmer and an additional $400 in savings for each estrus successfully planned using the LiveCare solution. SK Telecom plans on extending its services to provide automatic notification to ranchers of contagious disease as well as location tracking in the near future.
“LoRa Technology is the solution of choice for agriculture due to its long range, ease of deployment, ease of use, and flexibility,” said Vivek Mohan, Director of IoT in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “With LoRa, ranchers are empowered knowing that their animals are being monitored as efficiently as possible. Smart agriculture is just one example of how Semtech’s LoRa Technology is creating a smarter planet.”
