Skip to main content
Precision farming

Numérique et bien-être des animaux d’élevage

By January 19th, 2021February 2nd, 2021No Comments

Document type : Article from the Centre d’études et de prospective du Ministère de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation

Author: Franck Bourdy

Preview: At a seminar held in December 2020, the AgroTIC Chair addressed two topical issues: the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in animal husbandry, and animal welfare (AW). A dozen or so presentations, as well as offering a panorama of the many existing tools, enabled participants to discover whether the relationship between ICTs and well-being is always positive and beneficial for both the farmer and the animal from a One Welfare perspective. The presentations were grouped into 3 sessions: the first related to the evaluation of animal welfare, from the measurement of parameters to decision-making support; the second brought together animal welfare and the welfare of the farmer, while the last dealt with societal issues [...].

The use of digital tools in animal husbandry presents several challenges, according to Michel Marcon of the French Institut du Porc (IFIP). The first is economic: consumers are increasingly attentive to animal welfare but will only pay a little more. Meanwhile, for farmers, the use of digital tools must lead to a reduction in costs and in veterinary drugs through the early detection of health problems. These tools can also be a source of additional income through improved performance or better traceability of a label's specifications. A second challenge relates to accessibility and connectivity, as rural areas sometimes have poor internet coverage (see figure below). Farmers must also choose a robust solution that can adapt to  technical constraints (insects on the cameras, humidity, etc.), and that is not limited in its use to the location for which a given tool has been chosen (allowing installation in different buildings).

For Nathalie Hostiou (INRAE), digital technology has various impacts on the farming profession. First, the reduction in working hours is not as great as she had hoped, instead, automation allows work to be redistributed throughout the day and flexibility in working hours. In terms of mental stress, digital technology can become a 'chain jerker' with alerts day and night. It also induces new Human-animal relationships that are more distanced  (less direct contact), but also offers a better individual knowledge of animals. Last, working autonomy can be impacted, producing a strong dependence on services, loss of control over the parameters that determine how the farm is managed and over the associated decisions. 

French Ministry of Agriculture and Food logo
From the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food website