Calculation of daily distance walked by grazing cattle using real-time activity and position data collected by LORA-WAN sensors

TitleCalculation of daily distance walked by grazing cattle using real-time activity and position data collected by LORA-WAN sensors
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2023
AuthorsNyamuryekung'e S, Duff G, Utsumi S.A, Estell RE, McIntosh M.M, Funk M., Cox A, Cao H, Chen H., Spiegal S, Perea A., Rahman A.F., Cibils AF
Conference Name2nd U.S. Precision Livestock Farming Conference
Date Published12/12/2022
ARIS Log Number397404
Keywordscompare methods, grazing cattle, LoRa-WAN sensors, Real-time, walking distances
Abstract

LoRa-WAN sensors were used to compare methods for determining walking distances by grazing cattle in near real-time. The accuracy of relying on a global positioning system (GPS) alone or in combination with motion data derived from triaxial accelerometers was compared using stationary control trackers (Control) placed in fixed field locations (n=6) vs. trackers (Test) mounted on cows (n=6) grazing on pasture at the New Mexico State University’s Clayton Livestock Research Center. Trackers communicated motion data at 1-minute intervals and GPS positions at 15-minute intervals for seven days. Daily distance walked was determined using: 1) raw GPS data (RawDist), 2) data with erroneous GPS locations removed (CorrDist), or 3) data with erroneous GPS locations removed and with GPS data associated with the static state excluded (CorrActDist). Distances were analyzed via one-way ANOVA to compare Control vs. Test deployment effects. No difference (P=0.43) in walking distance was detected between Control vs. Test for RawDist. However, distances calculated for CorrDist differed (P<0.01) between the two tracker deployments. Due to the random error of GPS measurements, CorrDist for stationary devices differed (P=0.01) from zero. The walking distance calculated by CorrActDist differed (P<0.01) between Control vs. Test trackers, with distances for Control trackers not differing (P=0.44) from zero. The fusion of GPS and accelerometer data was a more suitable method for calculating walking distance by grazing cattle. This result may highlight the value of combining more than one source of independent sensor data in Precision Livestock Farming applications.