Facial recognition can track cows’ feed intake

MINNEAPOLIS — Can facial recognition in the barn boost dairy cattle management?

Cargill is banking on it.

In a deal announced Jan. 31, Cargill and Cainthus, a Dublin-based machine vision company, created a partnership that will bring facial recognition technology to dairy farms across the world.

The agreement includes a minority equity investment from Cargill. Terms were not disclosed.

Cainthus uses predictive imaging to monitor the health and well-being of livestock. Their proprietary software uses images to identify individual animals based on hide patterns and facial recognition and tracks key data such as food and water intake, heat detection and behavior patterns.

The software then delivers analytics that drive on-farm decisions that can impact milk production, reproduction management and overall animal health.

“We think this partnership will be a game changer for farmers because it will allow them to efficiently scale their business,” said David Hunt, president and co-founder, Cainthus.

No two cows alike

Cainthus’ imaging technology can identify individual cows by their features in several seconds to memorize a cow’s unique identity, recording individual pattern and movements.

That information is used as part of an artificial intelligence-driven mathematical algorithm that conveys imagery into feed and water intake analysis, behavioral tracking and health alerts that can be sent directly to the farmer.

Data gleaned from those images is used to anticipate issues and adjust feeding regimens.

“Our shared vision is to disrupt and transform how we bring insights and analytics to dairy producers worldwide,” said SriRaj Kantamneni, managing director for Cargill’s digital insights business.

Cargill and Cainthus intend to first focus on the global dairy segment, but will expand to other species, including swine, poultry and aqua over the next several months.