Intelligent perception for cattle monitoring: A review for cattle identification, body condition score evaluation, and weight estimation

There has been an increasing demand for animal protein due to several factors such as global population growth, rising incomes, etc. However, farming productivity is stagnating due to a mix of traditional practice, climate change, socio-economic, and environmental phenomena. Precision livestock farming, with intelligent perception tools at its core, and vast amounts of data being acquired from different sensors or platforms, has the ability to analyse individual animal for improved management, and the potential to dramatically enhance farm productivity. In order to facilitate research and promote the development of related areas, this review summarises and analyses the main existing techniques used in precision cattle farming, focusing on those related to identification, body condition score evaluation, and live weight estimation. More than 100 relevant papers have been discussed in a cohesive manner. From this review and extensive discussions of recent trends, we anticipate that intelligent perception for precision cattle farming will develop through non-contact, high precision, automated technologies, combined with emerging 3D model reconstruction and deep learning technologies. Existing challenges and future research opportunities will also be highlighted and discussed.

Automated summary

Precision livestock farming, utilizing intelligent perception tools, can analyze individual animals for improved management and increased farm productivity. The focus is on techniques related to identification, body condition score evaluation, and live weight estimation, with over 100 relevant papers reviewed and discussed for insights into future developments in non-contact, high precision, automated technologies in the field.