Ag Tech

Will our sheep dogs need to learn how to fly? + VIDEO

Sheep Central, April 12, 2021

Squadron Leader Kate Yaxley, a Visiting Military Fellow at UNSW Canberra.

FARM quality assurance programs could one day specify the use of drones rather than dogs or motorbikes to muster livestock, after research showing mustering with an unmanned aerial vehicle was less stressful for sheep and goats.

“They could in the future,” lead researcher Kate Yaxley from the University of New South Wales told Sheep Central.

“But we also need to consider what is the best for the environment, in terms of what does your workplace look like.

“So there may be times when we need to have a vehicle around the sheep, just to even support those sheep who need interventions, for things like flystrike or something like that,” she said.

“A drone at this stage is not able to lift a sheep so we are still going to need to interact with them with vehicles.

“Dogs may not be used in the future and this is all part of understanding what the impact of technology has to our future workplaces.”

She said it was also important top consider the “very important” relationship between a farmer and their sheep dog.

Ms Yaxley’s research compared mustering stock with a drone to mustering with a single sheep dog and the impact of motorbike sounds. The research showed that the sounds of motorbikes were also more stressful for sheep, she said.

The study from UNSW Canberra found that using drones to herd sheep could actually be better for the animal than traditional methods of mustering or shepherding.

Squadron Leader Yaxley, a Visiting Military Fellow at UNSW Canberra and one of the lead researchers on the study said the method of herding animals has a direct impact on the welfare of the animal.

“Shepherding is an essential part of farming, and it is a way of guiding sheep to go where the farmer needs them to go.

“As sheep are cognitive living beings, it is our social and ethical responsibility to consider their welfare if we’re going to interact with them,” she said.

The aim of the research, published by Scientific Reports, was to see if the team could design an autonomous system that considers the welfare of the sheep and empowers the farmer to use modern technology, in this case artificial intelligence, while ensuring social and ethical responsibilities toward the animals.

“UAVs are currently being used by farmers, so this isn’t a brand-new school of thought,” SQNLDR Yaxley said.

“But what we found was missing was that there was no understanding of how the sheep are interacting with the technology and the impact of the technology on their welfare.

“What we found through this study is that the sheep had higher heart rates when they’re being shepherded by traditional means.

“So, the simple act of moving them to another paddock for food is actually putting the animal under stress.”

When using UAVs emitting certain sounds to herd the sheep, the team was able to reduce the stress on the animal.

“We measured the variations in their heart rates, and we found it to be much lower when using UAVs with appropriate approach speed, and that the animals actually responded to the technology. If we played certain sounds that allowed them to use their sensors, their aural and visual acuity, they moved a lot easier,” SQNLDR Yaxley said.

“This is part of our research that is continuing at the moment. In addition to this, we’re focusing on the frequency of the sounds emitted as opposed to trying to emit a particular sound.”

For SQNLDR Yaxley, this research is part of a longer-term vision to see human and artificial intelligence working together to foster the welfare of farms.

“It’s all about promoting a positive relationship between the farmer, the technology that is available to them, and the welfare of the animals. I want to empower farmers to work in different ways, while maintaining social responsibility towards animal welfare and ethics,” she said.

The research paper is available at the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87453-y

 

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Comments

  1. William John Gray, April 20, 2021

    Please tell me that this pathetic article was put up as a joke. Come to think about it, it isn’t very funny at all. Obviously written by people that haven’t a clue what they are talking about. Editor’s note: Just adding some humour to serious research. I’m glad it flew your kite, William.

  2. John Karlsson, April 12, 2021

    Dear all, in evolutionary terms sheep are ‘prey’ animals. In that environment, their reaction is ‘fight or run’. It is natural and required that the heart rate increases for a limited period. It only becomes a problem if they transit into a chronic stress condition.

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