Nikon Creates AI System That Detects When Cows Are Set To Give Birth

Nikon Corp. has developed a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to alert farmers if a cow is about to give birth by analyzing their movements with cameras installed on farms, Kyodo News.

Nikon's technology aims to ease the burden on farmers who need to conduct regular checks on pregnant cows in the weeks leading up to them giving birth, and help them increase efficiency. I Photo: Nikon Corp. / Kyodo News

The technology, which is going on sale in Japan this month, aims to ease the burden on farmers who need to conduct regular checks on pregnant cows in the weeks leading up to them giving birth, and help them increase efficiency.

The system is estimated to cost approximately 900,000 yen ($6,200) per year for a farm with 100 cows. A dedicated smartphone application is used to alert farmers when a calf is due.

According to Nikon, a pregnant cow exhibits typical signs around five hours before going into labor, such as increased movement and the start of the release of the amniotic sac containing the calf.

Data for training the AI has been collected since the fall of 2021, with proof-of-concept experiments conducted on four farms in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, since February 2023.

Nikon official Kazuhiro Hirano talked about the benefits of utilizing Nikon's image analysis technology during a press conference in December, saying that in the future, "We want to be able to also detect when a cow is in heat and other behavioral patterns."

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