As the global population continues to surge past the 8 billion mark, it is a great challenge to keep up with the gauging demand for meat and dairy products. Of course, this increasing demand is also putting pressure on the livestock industry. Ranchers have long struggled with outmoded methods for tracking their herds. Advancements in IoT technologies address an enormous of problems, quite literally. IoT-enabled GPS livestock tracking solutions make it possible to track cows and sheep in wide coverage. The days of manual counting and tracking are over. With long-range low-power LPWANs, we will see an enormous increase in the adoption of GPS livestock tracking devices.
What is livestock tracking
Livestock tracking involves the use of various technologies to monitor the activities and location of farm animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs. Livestock tracking is a major manifestation in the transition from traditional to modern agriculture. Farmers can monitor the location and behavior of their livestock in real time while sitting at home and manage their pastures more effectively. With the development of wireless technology, extensive grazing tracking solutions are currently undergoing rapid development.
Why IoT-based livestock tracking is essential
To date, tracking of the livestock has been, at best, an exhausting exercise that took a number of hours and considerable effort on the part of the farmer, owing to the fact that he or she had to go around the ranches counting the livestock blindly. In large-scale grazing, that method is merely unimaginable, and at instances significantly risky. Well, that was no surprise at all as GPS tracking became an inseparable part of our lives, agriculture also took note and started wondering how it could utilize the same methods to track cattle and sheep.
When putting it into practice though, we inevitably ran into a bunch of challenges, like issues with positioning accuracy, physical signal interference from trees, buildings, and whatnot, and battery life demands. On the flip side, as indoor tracking tech has advanced, commercializing outdoor tracking systems has been relatively slow, especially for lower-value livestock and wide-open grazing areas.
The thing is, livestock theft, sheep rustling in particular, has been surging like crazy recently. In 2020 alone, around £2.3 million worth of animals got snatched from UK farms. So when LPWAN tech emerged enabling long-range, low-power tracking, people realized it could be a game-changer for remotely tracking on livestock across long distances.
Key technologies used for livestock tracking
With farming tech on the rise, some solutions are driving different kinds of animal tracking now. Whether it’s GPS, indoor location, triangulating signals, or ID tag receivers interacting. The fact is, using just one technology ain’t gonna cut it for seamless indoor-outdoor tracking. So more and more livestock trackers are combining GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and IoT into one complicated device.
GPS (Global Positioning System)
GPS is the foundation of current positioning, particularly out in those huge vast areas of grasslands. It works by using a network of satellites orbiting the Earth to triangulate the position of a GPS receiver with high accuracy, usually within about 5 meters. On the open prairies without any obstructions, it helps farmers get real-time accurate positioning of cattle and sheep.
NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things)
NB-IoT is a wireless technology designed for IoT devices for less power consumption and longer network range. It has been evident that the desired devices can provide longer battery life and dependable connectivity. NB-IoT trackers manage to provide the tracked information to the cloud via the cellular base stations. In other words, in areas with limited mobile network coverage, it is less feasible than the self-organizing LoRaWAN network.
Furthermore, NB-IOT operates on licensed frequencies and farmers have to pay for it; therefore, livestock tracking becomes much more expensive in the long run than anticipated.
LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network)
LoRaWAN is another LPWAN that can provide long range, low power, and low-cost connectivity for livestock tracking devices. It can cover large geographical zones with a range of 5-15 km and can be expanded through gateways. Since large grazing areas often fall in mobile network dead zones, LoRaWAN connectivity helps reduce reliance on mobile network access. Also, LoRaWAN operates in unlicensed frequency bands, and hence, there are no costs for network access since the farmers do not pay for connection besides the initial deployment of the network.
BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)
Bluetooth is known for short-range wireless communication. We’re putting it here simply because it can be integrated with other technologies such as LoRaWAN to extend their range and coverage. Besides, our GPS livestock trackers can incorporate Bluetooth positioning tech to to reduce cases of track loss by animals.
How LoRaWAN GPS livestock tracking work
Livestock tracking devices with LoRaWAN transmitters are usually compact, rugged units that can be attached securely to an animal’s collar. The GPS module continuously tracks the animal’s location and sends the data to a central monitoring system via a LoRaWAN gateway. These gateways cover a wide range and you can install them in fixed locations or mount them on drones or farm vehicles.
Our LW001-BG Pro LoRaWAN tracker supports three positioning methods: GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi. The flexible tracking modes boost positioning accuracy while minimizing power consumption on the device. Noticeably, the collar tracker features with a 12,000mAh battery that can last for 10 years before its replacement.
Some of the best trackers we believe include the LW001-BG Pro if you consider a suitable budget. Since thieves might remove the GPS devices from the animals, our tracker includes tamper alerts. It will be affordable to cover the whole herd yet cut expenses by equipping several animals with our LoRaWAN GPS trackers and others may install our Bluetooth location tags. These tags will send signals to the LW001-BG Pro, to thereby determine the approximate location of animals.
Benefits of LoRaWAN livestock tracking and monitoring
Modern farmers and ranchers can indeed consider the LoRaWAN GPS cattle tracking system as a boon. It offers numerous impressive benefits, with a few notable ones highlighted below:
Improving Animal Welfare and Productivity
When you have cows grazing over large tracts of land that is mostly the case, especially in rural areas, one major headache is always knowing where they all are. However, it is not as easy as you might think to track those cows right from the dense jungle or mountainous regions especially when they are a large herd. It would be a great idea to use LoRaWAN technology – the device can inform you if some of the cattle, for some reason or another, moved far from the rest of the herd or someone took it somewhere it should not be.
Improved herd management and grazing rotation
Managing huge grasslands the right way and avoiding overgrazing that wrecks the land is a tough task. In this regard, using LoRaWAN to track how long livestock lingers in different areas over a large region helps gauge their grazing intake to improve herding strategies. It also reveals which pastures the livestock prefer to optimize fertilization. Ranchers can even set up virtual fences to easily control the grazing patterns.
Remote health issues and behavior monitoring
Using GPS and sensors like accelerometers, we can track an animal’s movements to assess its health and behavior patterns. Examples include diagnosing of parasites in sheep, predicting calving and oestrus in cows, and analyzing pasture usage, etc. Such data includes more than just location tracking; we can integrate trackers for livestock with sensors to measure body temperatures, heart rates, and activity levels.
Cost-effective deployment for large-scale operations
It’s amazing how LPWAN devices are becoming affordable these days but for farmers, it is still an investment. Not to mention that we should pay for the connectivity in NB-IoT and LTE-M. That’s where cost-effective LoRaWAN servers a major role in large livestock monitoring. Its long range and low power minimize infrastructure and operating costs. LoRaWAN makes scaling up feasible without costing too much.
Use cases of LoRaWAN in animal tracking
Easy to deploy in large areas where LoRaWAN gateways infrastructure already exists can track and protect cattle, sheep, guardian animals, and wild animals. LoRaWAN technology provides efficient livestock tracking solutions for various applications:
Cattle and sheep tracking and theft protection
LW001-BG PRO tracker enables theft prevention and recovery of lost cattle and sheep. It enhances livestock management through a low-power, cost-effective LoRaWAN network solution. All you have to do is equip the tracker on animals or herds, you can track their every move in the comforts of your home. The system will sound the alarm if livestock ventures outside a pre-defined area or potential theft is detected.
Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) tracking
LGDs have become valued ranch assets since they protect a variety of livestock from predators. These guardians defend against small threats like coyotes. They also ward off larger predators such as wolves and bears. LGDs even protect lambs from eagles that might want to feast on them. These medium to large sized dogs live together with the herds for purposes of acting as their protectors. By using a LoRaWAN tracker, ranchers will be able to ascertain where these four-legged hired muscle are patrolling any time.
Wild animal tracking and monitoring
It is noteworthy that low-power LoRaWAN GPS tracking is gradually becoming an important tool in preserving wildlife in protective zones. Geolocation is achieved through LoRaWAN-based triangulation without relying on GPS. Find the best positions to place the trackers on a given wild animal for constant monitoring that may span for months to even years.
Getting started with LoRaWAN livestock tracking
We have discussed so many benefits of LoRaWAN in livestock tracking, but how should ranch owners actually start with LoRaWAN GPS trackers for monitoring their cattle and sheep herds? Now that we’ve covered how livestock tracking solutions based on LoRaWAN, let’s dive into how to start.
- Evaluate your needs and requirements
Before deploying a LoRaWAN tracking system, consider your specific requirements – things like herd size, the area you need to cover, whether you’ll use additional sensors, and so on.
- Select hardware and sensors
After you nail down your needs, you can select the appropriate LoRaWAN GPS trackers and sensors. Consider battery life, durability, and waterproofing, as the device will be exposed to harsh environments.
Leveraging other sensors for livestock health monitoring is still more theoretical than practical at this stage – the research and real-world applications are limited, and sensor costs are relatively high. Simple location tracking is lower-hanging fruit that’s easier to implement as tracker pricing keeps dropping.
- Deploy LoRaWAN gateways and trackers
Depending on your coverage needs, strategically position LoRaWAN gateways across your target area. In a ranch environment, each gateway can cover up to 15km, so just a handful should do the trick for a sizable operation. Configure and deploy tracking devices on cattle collars or ear tags.
- Integrate with the livestock management platform
On the livestock management platform, you can view real-time location, report management, basic data, and other data of cattle and sheep, which is convenient for ranchers to achieve scientific management.
Why choose MOKO SMART
At MOKOSmart, we offer reliable and durable LoRaWAN GPS trackers designed for animal tracking. Our LW001-BG PRO is available in two versions to suit your needs: one with a high-capacity 12000mAh battery and another that is rechargeable. Reach out to us if you want to learn more about our products!
