Oyen cattle producer tries out ‘fitbit’ for cows
By Joan Janzen
A solar powered ear tag for animals catches sunlight and transmits data to a satellite. The GPS-enabled smart tags require a gentle touch when tagging cattle, due to their delicate technology and a special applicator. They’ve been described as a “fitbit” for cows. The tags are designed to last up to ten years, and are held in place by two metal pins.
As part of a pilot program, eight animals on the cattle operation of Heather Mundt were fitted with the tags last September. The 150 head cow-calf operation is located near Oyen.
These Ceres Tags are made in Australia, and collect data from low-orbit satellites. The data can be collected even through tree cover, and includes location, monitoring of ambient temperature and animal activity, which is accessed through an app. Animal owners can set a fence perimeter on the software, and will receive an alert if an animal escapes. Although only eight animals were tagged, they did give the owner a good indication of where the herd was headed.
The tags only upload data every four hours, but because each tag uploads independently, there’s isn’t a long gap between herd-locating pings. Frigid temperatures on the prairies could be an issue, as the Australian design shuts off at -21 degrees Celsius to conserve battery power, but will come back on when the weather warms up. However the pilot program is an effort to help the Australian company make their product more Canadian friendly. Retention was found to be an additional factor during Canadian trials when cattle lost their tags.
However the most notable issue for cattle producers is the cost of the tags at $250 per tag. The cost may be out of reach for producers, even though the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s Farm Technology Program covers GPS tags and trackers.
Lakeland College campus in Vermilion, AB was also involved in the two-year pilot project. The college realized, that although monitoring cattle by direct-to-satellite GPS has much potential, their researchers are still looking for a product that possesses all the qualities they are seeking.
