PSXVI-20 - Real-time localization system for dairy cattle in a commercial facility: evaluation of dynamic positioning ability

Real-time location tracking of dairy cattle on commercial facilities enables producers to quickly locate and tend to cows and provides insight into health status and animal welfare. The effectiveness of these systems depends on accurate and reliable reporting of information. Therefore, this experiment’s objective was to assess the dynamic positioning abilities of a commercially available real-time location ear tag system (SmartBow; Zoetis, Parsippany, NJ) for use in group-housed dairy cattle. Using 2 pens of a freestall barn, cameras (n = 18) were installed on barn fixtures and positioned to photograph cow usage of feedbunk (n = 4), stall (n = 10), or waterer (n = 4). Photographs were captured automatically at 1-min intervals for 85 hours, consecutively. Laser measurements determined X and Y coordinates for reference point locations respective to camera. In dynamic position assessments, variations in ear tag proximity to measured reference points are to be expected. One trained observer reviewed photographs, saving only those depicting cows with visible farm-assigned ID. Data points were only defined if farm-assigned ID was associated with an active technology ear tag. For data analyses, technology-reported X and Y coordinates of data points were compared to reference point locations. Of all data points (n = 114,633), mean distance error was 3.82 m (SD= 6.73 m). Median distance error was 2.44 m (SD= 6.73; Q1= 1.41 m; Q3=5.13 m). With removal of outliers (99^th percentile), data (n = 113,487) had a mean distance error of 3.82 m (min= 0.01 m; max= 33.80 m) and a median of 2.41 m (SD= 2.78 m; Q1= 1.40 m; Q3= 4.95 m). Using distance error, mean percentages of data points that fell within specified radii of circles centered about reference point locations were calculated (Table 1). These results suggest that this ear tag technology can accurately report the dynamic positions of dairy cattle moving freely in a commercial freestall barn environment.