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Animals
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Rethinking Animal Production through Precision Livestock Farming
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Rethinking Animal Production through Precision Livestock Farming

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal System and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 8809

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mario Baratta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Interests: precision livestock farming; animals; technological and economic aspects in farming animals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

In the last decade, engineering advances and decreasing costs of the new electronic technologies have allowed the development of many sensor-based solutions for the livestock industry. These sensors are able to collect data automatically and in real time, enabling the early detection of specific problems. This technological approach is currently known as precision livestock farming (PLF) which consists of ‘measuring variables, modelling the data to select information, and then using these models in real-time for monitoring and controlling the animals’. There is general agreement that PLF systems are an opportunity to improve the profitability and sustainability of livestock farms.

This technology has tried to adapt to existing farming systems which attempt to improve the ability to intervene. However, it is necessary to record a dramatic change in the approach of the animal supply chain caused by the climate emergency and the ecological transition that is happening very rapidly simultaneously with the pandemic emergency. This new perspective changes the needs and demands in the animal supply chain, with further effort in the fields of environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and consumer acceptance.

Original manuscripts that address developments of this new perspective bring out new problems or themes and propose new solutions in the application of the PLF in the animal supply chain are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Mario Baratta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • PLF
  • animal welfare
  • sustainability
  • consumer acceptance
  • biosensors
  • ecological transition
  • carbon footprint
  • food safety
  • food quality

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 7148 KiB  
Article
Development and Validation of an Energy Consumption Model for Animal Houses Achieving Precision Livestock Farming
by Longhuan Du, Li Yang, Chaowu Yang, Chenming Hu, Chunlin Yu, Mohan Qiu, Siyang Liu, Shiliang Zhu and Xianlin Ye
Animals 2022, 12(19), 2580; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12192580 - 27 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1631
Abstract
Indoor environmental control is usually applied in poultry farming to ensure optimum growth conditions for birds. However, these control methods represent a considerable share of total energy consumption, and the trend of applying new equipment in the future for precision livestock farming would [...] Read more.
Indoor environmental control is usually applied in poultry farming to ensure optimum growth conditions for birds. However, these control methods represent a considerable share of total energy consumption, and the trend of applying new equipment in the future for precision livestock farming would further increase energy demand, resulting in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and management costs. Therefore, to ensure optimum efficiency of both energy use and livestock productivity, a customized hourly model was developed in the present study to interpret and analyze the electronically collected data. The modules for estimating indoor gas concentrations were incorporated into the present model, as this has not been properly considered in previous studies. A validation test was performed in a manure-belt layer house using sensors and meters to measure the indoor environmental parameters and energy consumption. The predicted results, including indoor temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide and ammonia concentrations, showed good agreement with the measured data, indicating a similar overall trend with acceptable discrepancies. Moreover, the corresponding differences between the measured and simulated energy consumption for heating, tunnel ventilation and base ventilation were 13.7, 7.5, and 0.1%, respectively. The total energy demand estimated by the model showed a limited discrepancy of approximately 10.6% compared with that measured in reality. Although human factors, including inspection, cleaning, vaccination, etc., were not included in the model, the validation results still suggested that the customized model was able to accurately predict the indoor environment and overall energy consumption during poultry farming. The validated model provides a tool for poultry producers to optimize production planning and management strategies, increase the production rate of unit energy consumption and achieve precision livestock farming from an energy consumption standpoint. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rethinking Animal Production through Precision Livestock Farming)
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Review

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29 pages, 12980 KiB  
Review
Precision Livestock Farming Research: A Global Scientometric Review
by Bing Jiang, Wenjie Tang, Lihang Cui and Xiaoshang Deng
Animals 2023, 13(13), 2096; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132096 - 24 Jun 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6536
Abstract
Precision livestock farming (PLF) utilises information technology to continuously monitor and manage livestock in real-time, which can improve individual animal health, welfare, productivity and the environmental impact of animal husbandry, contributing to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of livestock farming. PLF has [...] Read more.
Precision livestock farming (PLF) utilises information technology to continuously monitor and manage livestock in real-time, which can improve individual animal health, welfare, productivity and the environmental impact of animal husbandry, contributing to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of livestock farming. PLF has emerged as a pivotal area of multidisciplinary interest. In order to clarify the knowledge evolution and hotspot replacement of PLF research, based on the relevant data from the Web of Science database from 1973 to 2023, this study analyzed the main characteristics, research cores and hot topics of PLF research via CiteSpace. The results point to a significant increase in studies on PLF, with countries having advanced livestock farming systems in Europe and America publishing frequently and collaborating closely across borders. Universities in various countries have been leading the research, with Daniel Berckmans serving as the academic leader. Research primarily focuses on animal science, veterinary science, computer science, agricultural engineering, and environmental science. Current research hotspots center around precision dairy and cattle technology, intelligent systems, and animal behavior, with deep learning, accelerometer, automatic milking systems, lameness, estrus detection, and electronic identification being the main research directions, and deep learning and machine learning represent the forefront of current research. Research hot topics mainly include social science in PLF, the environmental impact of PLF, information technology in PLF, and animal welfare in PLF. Future research in PLF should prioritize inter-institutional and inter-scholar communication and cooperation, integration of multidisciplinary and multimethod research approaches, and utilization of deep learning and machine learning. Furthermore, social science issues should be given due attention in PLF, and the integration of intelligent technologies in animal management should be strengthened, with a focus on animal welfare and the environmental impact of animal husbandry, to promote its sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rethinking Animal Production through Precision Livestock Farming)
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