INTELLIGENT FEEDING: PRECISION FEEDING + IT
The term “intelligent feeding” was introduced by the event’s partner, AVA Group. Maksym Shevchuk, the company’s CEO, defined the intelligent feeding concept as follows:
“This is a synergy of precision feeding with a scientific approach and new IT/AI technologies to manage production efficiency (cost)”.
In his report “Intelligent Feeding as an Effective Solution for a Modern Farm” Maksym Shevchuk outlined the 4 steps that constitute intelligent feeding, namely:
- Ration calculation
- Feed production
- Feeding at all stages
- Efficiency analysis
“One of the main challenges faced by investors is the discrepancy between the expected results, which were calculated on paper taking account of the use of certain technological solutions when investing in the project, and the real ones,” said Maksym Shevchuk. — “There are generally deviations from the expected results, whether related to veterinary issues, feeding technology, genetic features, etc. So our company set out to find out: what can we improve in terms of feeding? As we were studying the market and looking for solutions, we discovered that there are many parameters in feeding that are currently measured manually, with human intervention, and there is therefore no guarantee that the tasks we set out on paper will be achieved”.
To address all of these issues, i.e. to implement each of the components of intelligent feeding, AVA Group has developed a number of digital technologies to allow all of these processes to be managed directly online using a smartphone.
Maksym Shevchuk presented the Profeed system, which makes it possible to manage feed production in a completely automatic mode from a smartphone: from the operational analysis of raw materials (ProfeedLAB module), to the preparation and distribution of the rations — Profeed Pig is a unique solution for managing production of animal feed on the farm.
The CEO of AVA Group also presented an IT solution for analysing efficiency on pig farms — a system using artificial intelligence (neural networks, machine vision) that analyses animal behaviour using video cameras. By recording the behavioural parameters of the animals, their average daily weight gain, and indoor climate indicators, it is possible to predict future developments in your situation, and therefore to prevent the development of diseases, mortality, and other problems by responding quickly to them using the information obtained through digital solutions. The intelligent feeding process therefore involves making the most efficient use of available digital technologies in feeding.
As a feed company, we are committed to giving the market what it needs right now, particularly the pig market, which is suffering the most from the rise in price of feed components, to achieve the desired level of profitability, which is currently offset by the cost of grain and the price of pork, said the CEO of AVA Group, in summary.
All 4 of these steps included in the “intelligent feeding” concept were explained in the speeches of the forum speakers that followed.
In particular, Oleksandr Gyrin, AVA Group’s project digitization expert, spoke in detail about the ProfeedPig project presented by Maksym Shevchuk, in his report “Controlling Livestock Investment by Smartphone”, emphasising its ability to offer high-quality management.
Serhii Ryzhkov, director of ProfeedTechnology, analysed the Profeed project for cattle.
Viktor Nechmilov, PhD in Agriculture, expert in IT solutions with the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association, presented “Global Digital Trends in Pig Production for 2021–2022”, noting that 52% of European farms use digital systems today. Among the main trends in 2020–2030, the speaker identified the increase in autonomous field robots, the use of drones and driverless tractors; sensors that determine the requirements of plants for fertilizers, processing agents, and moisture.
A number of presentations at the AgroAnimalITForum were also devoted to innovations in feeding as part of intelligent feeding.
Kostiantyn Makhno, PhD in Agriculture and Chief Engineer at Ternopil Bacon LLC, made a presentation on the Economics of the Pork Production Cycle: The Characteristics of Feeding at Different Stages of Growth, and spoke about the use of modern feeding technologies and digital solutions on his farm, focusing on methods to increase piglet weaning weight and reduce unproductive days of sows. (It should be noted that Ternopil Bacon LLC is one of the first companies to use an IT solution to manage a farm from a smartphone: 3D cameras are used to determine average daily weight gain, with feeding strategies, and stress-free economics; and ProfeedPig software for feed production).
Peter van Dooren, Management Partner of Nutrivice Consultancy, spoke about the features of metabolic programming of cows’ milk production, in a live broadcast from the Netherlands in his presentation “Epigenetics: ways to make genetics work”.
The speaker explained the mechanisms by which certain genes can be “turned on” or “turned off” to program the milk production of a future cow that will be inherited.
Yuriy Pozniakovskyi, AVAGroup’s cattle product manager, made a presentation on “Trends in intelligent calf feeding”, in which he focused on feeding during the starting period and the importance of feeding calves with high-quality colostrum, describing methods to achieve this.
The forum was concluded with a speech by Mykhailo Korylkevych, founder of the Family Dairy Farms project, who spoke about this investment project for the development of the Ukrainian dairy industry.
“The forum has demonstrated that digital solutions will help today’s livestock breeders, who are in a difficult situation due to the constant rise in production costs, not only in terms of their survival but also for any increase in their efficiency and profitability. We hope that the cases presented by the seminar participants will be implemented on Ukrainian farms very soon,” Viktor Nechmilov said, in summary, as an expert with the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association.
