IBM Farms Out RFID
Big Blue teams with startup TekVet to prevent outbreaks of livestock diseases.
IBM and TekVet, an agricultural technology startup, unveiled an RFID-based early warning system Thursday for infectious animal diseases such as mad cow and hoof and mouth.
The application, the result of three years of R&D from Salt Lake City-based TekVet, is a much-needed PR bonanza for radio frequency identification, which has taken a number of hits for its potential for abuse as a human surveillance technology.
TekVet employs an active RFID tag inserted into the ears of farm animals that collects and sends information about the health and whereabouts of cattle and other livestock.
Knowing the body temperature of a farm animal is an important indicator of its health. For instance, it is a critical indicator of where the female is in her ovulation cycle.
Follow up:
In a dairy operation, certain animals have to eat specific kinds of feed so they can produce specific kinds of milk. Sensors in the feed containers can indicate whether the animal is eating the right kind of food.
Broadcast RFID
Current implementations of RFID use passive tags that can be accessed at a short range by bulky readers. The tag used by TekVet broadcasts the information to a distance between 300 and 500 feet, where wireless receiving stations on the farm or wherever the cows are located can collect the data.
“When an animal is not healthy, it tends to stay away from the rest of the herd,” said Brian Sterling, IBM’s RFID business development executive. “If you have passive tags, the ill animal may not go near the sensors, so you may not get the information you need.” 
The data, which includes the animal’s body temperature, location, historical information, and herd data, is sent via private satellite to IBM’s hosting facilities, where information on millions of cattle can be processed.
The distilled data is then sent to TekVet, which in turn distributes the information via the Internet to its customers. TekVet’s customers can be meat and milk producers, investors, or regulators—anyone with an interest in the health of livestock.
“The data is more valuable than the devices themselves,” said TekVet Chairman Tali Haleua. “Our customers want real-time access to data about their investment, and this is the first technology out there currently available that can do that.”
The alternative to TekVet’s RFID network is to physically examine animals for signs of illness such as watery eyes or runny noses. But by the time the farmer finds the sick animal, according to Mr. Haleua, it may have already passed its illness on to other animals in the herd.
“Our system tracks historical information of the animal from birth to slaughter,” said Mr. Haleua. “At the end of the day it provides the consumer with a higher confidence that what they are consuming is safer to eat because of its ability to monitor health.”
Source: Red Herring
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