M&S expands AI welfare monitoring across dairy farms
Marks & Spencer is deploying AI-based monitoring throughout its Select Farm milk pool, which supplies the retailer from 46 dairy farms. The system uses cameras to record cows while they are housed indoors, with software assessing the footage against welfare indicators.
The technology creates an individual profile for each animal and follows changes in mobility and body condition. It also records lying and feeding periods, social behaviour and movement, combining the results into a “cow comfort score” for use by farmers and veterinarians. Body-condition measurements are intended to provide regular information about nutritional status.
The algorithm was developed with veterinary specialists and has been tested against the performance of a trained welfare assessor, according to M&S. Daily automated observations will supplement face-to-face welfare inspections carried out by independent vets rather than replace them.
Trials at selected M&S farms preceded the wider deployment. Farmers used measurements of lying time to adjust bedding for individual cows according to their size and shape. They also changed feeding routines to limit the time animals spent standing and modified some cubicles to improve comfort.
Terry Canning, chief executive of CattleEye, said that more frequent measurement of body condition could identify changes linked to metabolic health, fertility and general wellbeing. Jenny Allan, a veterinary consultant at Map of Ag, said M&S had maintained a focus on animal health and welfare for more than 15 years and that the system would provide real-time information across all 46 farms.
Peter Kennedy, head of agriculture at M&S Food, said the programme formed part of the company’s Plan A for Farming and was intended to support British farmers in providing care for dairy cows. Canning said applying AI welfare monitoring across a complete supply chain was a first and would provide farmers and consumers with assurance that productive herds could also be healthy herds.
M&S says it has invested more than £7m in agricultural innovation support for farmers over the past decade, with another £7m available during the next five years. Earlier projects included testing flooring in an upgraded milking parlour, measuring methane from Aberdeen Angus cattle to support lower-emission breeding, and using new technology to grow parsnips with higher yields and quality while reducing the crop’s carbon footprint. The retailer’s milk is entirely British and is bought directly from the 46 farmers in the Milk Pool.
