• by Chuck Martin , February 2, 2018

Facial recognition and artificial intelligence are expanding beyond identifying the faces of people and predicting their behavior.

Cargill and Cainthus, a Dublin machine vision company, have formed a partnership to bring facial recognition technology to dairy farms around the world.

Cainthus uses predictive imaging to monitor the health and wellbeing of livestock. The software uses images to identify individual animals based on facial recognition and hide patterns and then tracks data, such as water and food intake, heat detection and behavior patterns.

The system then provides analytics that drive on-farm decisions that Cargill says can impact milk production and animal health.

For example, individual cows can be identified within seconds and the unique identity is memorized, including individual pattern and movements. The information then is used as part of an AI-driven algorithm to convey imagery into feed and water intake analysis, and then behavioral tacking and health alerts can be sent directly to the farmer.

“Our shared vision is to disrupt and transform how we bring insights and analytics to dairy producers worldwide,” stated SriRaj Kantamneni, managing director for Cargill’s digital insights business. “Our customers’ ability to make proactive and predictive decisions to improve their farm’s efficiency, enhance animal health and wellbeing, reduce animal loss, and ultimately increase farm profitability are significantly enhanced with this technology.”

The venture intends to focus on the global dairy segment first, but will expand to other species, including swine, poultry and aqua over the next several months, according to Cargill.