Cattle Eye, the world's first hardware-independent autonomous livestock monitoring platform on the market, has been crowned the winner of the Royal Dairy Innovation Award.
The award, sponsored by CIEL, was judged and announced at yesterday's (7 April) Dairy-Tech event at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. It was presented to a company exhibiting at the show with a practical product or service, which has the most significant innovation for the future of dairying.
Cattle Eye is an autonomous livestock welfare and performance monitoring product meaning no hardware or devices need to be attached to the cow. It can be used to detect locomotion deviations, which are highly correlated to lameness in dairy cows. The product is thought to be the first to undergo successful academic validation by a leading UK university.
Competition judge and RABDF Council Member said he chose Cattle Eye due to the early and accurate lameness detection in cows. "Cattle Eye supports farmers' observations, is cheap to install and doesn't require any collars. It has the potential to help farmers tackle lameness early in their herds. They are also working towards a body condition score element," he added.
The two runners up were DigiFarm Data Tool and DeLaval Flow Responsive Milking. DigiFarm Data Tool is a web-based solution for Vetpartners vets, vet staff and farm clients which integrates clinical and farm management records. DigiFarm brings together milk records and health data to create unique reports that both vets and farmers can use.
DeLaval Flow Responsive™ Milking uses actual milk flow to adjust milking parameters like vacuum and pulsation to create a more efficient milk flow profile.
Cattle Eye’s Roger Allen received a signed framed certificate and will be presented with a trophy from Princess Royal later this year.