Design of Automated Logging and Tracking System for Livestock at Oakley Farm

Abstract

There is a large need to be able to track and assess the location of animals for a variety of reasons such as theft concerns, medical care, and collecting big data to be used for future agricultural improvements. The self-sustaining integrated mineral feeder acts as a relay to a central hub to collect data on the cattle and log the information into a cattle management system produced by the computer science department. While similar technologies do exist, they are far too costly to be used as they cost around $300 per head of cattle, while the average annual profit per head of cattle is $125. The project sponsors’ goal for this project is to reduce this cost to $20 per head of cattle.
Therefore, the objective of this project is creating a mesh network throughout the ranch, and connecting a Rasberry Pi 3 to the central hub to relay vital information such as mineral consumption and live monitoring the cattle behavior. This data network provides necessary information to allow for quick responses to abnormal behavior signaling potential for highly infectious and contagious diseases that require containment. Additionally the system can provide alerts for potential theft of cattle to protect ranch assets. Our projections for this product is that it will become a necessity at every livestock facility across Tennessee.