IF you’ve ever marvelled at the technology that allows a gamer to stand in front of a television and throw a virtual football down a field, you won’t be surprised to find that the same technology can be used to measure the height, weight and fat content of stock in real-time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW DPI research scientist Doctor Brad Walmsley presented his research at the NextGen Livestock Forum in Blayney on Thursday and said that it was a decision-support tool that will help producers predict their animal’s performance.
“Utilising two X-Box Kinect-style cameras, we can produce a system to take the guesswork out of cattle assessment,” he said.
The system uses 3D images captured by cameras, such as Xbox, to assess livestock's characteristics.
“On average 10 to 20 per cent of cattle sent to abattoirs are penalised for not meeting market specifications and farmers are losing close to $35 per animal because of them not meeting those benchmarks,” he said.
“That’s a loss of $700,000 for every 20,000 cattle.”