The Iowa State University Department of Animal Science played a sizable role in the third U.S. Conference on Precision Livestock Farming held in early June in Lincoln, Nebraska. Twelve graduate students and four faculty members hosted and moderated sessions and presented on topics throughout the three-day event. In addition, Brett Ramirez, agricultural and biosystems engineering associate professor and ISU extension ag engineer, provided leadership for the overall meeting organization by chairing the conference program committee.
Graduate students Mina Shumaly, Andrea Núñez, Xiaohan Jian, Leonora James, Bimala Acharya, Felipe Picchi, Wyatt Kendall, Thinh Tran Pham Tien, Elisa de Conti, Caitlin Sliger, and Isaac Berg attended and shared thei
r research. In total, 12 posters and oral talks were presented by ISU faculty and students.
Presented works included the following:
From Juan Steibel's lab:
- Automated gait analysis of growing pigs through biomarker measurements using computer vision, presented by Mina Shumaly.
- Prediction of social genetic effects of Maternal Traits in pigs, presented by Andrea Núñez.
- Inferring social structure with automatic feeding records in group-housed pigs, presented by Xiaohan Jiang.
- Open access datasets for implementing computer vision in PLF, presented by Steibel.
From David Rosero's lab:
- Deep learning-based computer vision for early detection of fall-behind weaned pigs, presented by Bimala Acharya.
From James Koltes' lab:
- Leveraging milk spectral data for predicting feed intake in lactating Holstein dairy cattle, presented by Leonora James.
- Assessment of cow behavioral traits as indicators of methane and feed intake measurements in lactating Holstein dairy cows, presented by Koltes.
According to the conference website, the USPLF conference aims to bring together scientists, engineers, veterinarians, companies, farmers, policymakers, and associations who are interested in applying technology to improve animal care and well-being. The goal is to highlight state-of-the-art research and groundbreaking innovations while critically evaluating the overall sustainability of our animal systems. As a truly transdisciplinary event, the conference provides an ideal place to share research results and gain inspiration for the future.