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In this month’s newsletter, we focus on how HerdDogg is forging industry partnerships where our unique Animal Record Collection provides the platform for data-driven innovation.
First, we visit with Dr. J. Derek Scasta at the University of Wyoming, where he is using HerdDogg to understand cattle behavior as they battle with a painful parasite. Here, the motion-detection and animal-tracking capabilities are being pushed to the limits.
Then, an update from our newsroom: we’re very pleased to announce that HerdDogg has been selected by the Global Animal Partnership as the foundational platform for its dairy animal-welfare standard. This will establish a new standard for the digital capture and analysis of animal welfare metrics in the dairy.
And… we had a great time at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, where we won an award!
Read on for more…
Warmest regards,
Melissa Brandao
Founder, HerdDogg
A research team at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at University of Wyoming is studying how horn flies parasitize different breed and types of bovines — and why some animals are more susceptible than others. The study is led by Dr. J. Derek Scasta, whose research includes several studies of animal behavior and its interactions with the natural environment.
Under the microscope: Haematobia irritans, one of the most economically important pests of cattle worldwide. Better known as the horn fly, and about half the size of a common housefly, this parasite is equipped with a piercing proboscis capable of penetrating cattle hide to feed on the cow’s blood.
For cattle producers, this fly is an expensive pest. Over the years various approaches have been devised to combat it. Dr. Scasta wants to find a better integrated pest management (IPM) approach based on understanding individual animals and their environment.
We sat down with Dr. Scasta to learn more about how HerdDogg’s animal data could help him develop a weapon to combat a cow’s battle with horn flies. And we learned a new term: panniculus reflex.
“I was really blown away by the smartphone interface, where we use these QR codes to pair up a tag with an animal. All from your phone,” said Dr. Scasta. “Believe me, when you’re actually standing among the cattle working facilities, trying to put tags on animals, you know, and do all the animal handling stuff, this needs to be super simple. HerdDogg has made this as efficient as it could be. It’s really great.”
READ ABOUT DR. SCASTA ON THE HERDDOGG BLOG
Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.), one of the largest animal welfare standards and labeling organizations in North America, just announced its new dairy standard—and a partnership with HerdDogg. HerdDogg’s Animal Traceability Platform will make it easy for dairies and auditors to conduct animal outcome assessments using G.A.P. scoring tools throughout the certification cycle, enhancing the overall process and enabling G.A.P. to provide benchmarking.
The new dairy standard covers the animal’s entire life (breeding, calves, heifers, lactating herd, and dry cows), and allows for a variety of production systems (barn, pasture, lots) with specific requirements for the animals across each.
As the primary data platform partner for this initiative, HerdDogg is providing G.A.P. a structured tool on its livestock management platform to integrate a digital solution to the on-farm animal assessment scoring requirements of the new standard.
“Our partnership with HerdDogg is allowing us to realize our long-term goals of having producers and auditors conduct animal assessments and compile that information into a benchmarking format. The HerdDogg platform gives producers, our certification partners, and G.A.P. a much easier and more efficient way to collect, submit, and collate all of that data and translate that into meaningful outcomes. This standard-specific technology can make both the producer and the auditor active participants in reporting and allows for mid-certification assessments so that we can really understand our impact.”
— Anne Malleau, executive director of G.A.P.
READ ABOUT OUR G.A.P. PARTNERSHIP ON THE HERDDOGG BLOG
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