Netherlands: Harnessing today’s technology for tomorrow’s animal welfare

As agriculture technology continues to evolve, we are learning and becoming more knowledgeable about how we can utilise it to better monitor and enhance animal welfare. This not only improves the lives of the animals, but it also gives farmers and workers more flexibility and freedom without sacrificing proper management. Systems that gather data via animal movement or camera imaging lead to lower-stress, more efficient production and can be used to manage health, allowing both farmers and veterinarians to be more proactive in their respective roles. This enables earlier treatment or more accurate preventative measures to prevent a decline in health. It can also help identify pain points in stressors like inadequate handling practices or housing issues. In dairy herds, the monitoring systems are constantly collecting animal data and can be easily utilised to make objective and informed decisions. Data collection has become important for managing animals and to better meet welfare ...