Animal Nutrition and Dairy Science: In Search of Precision Farming and Sustainable Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, we have witnessed the intense promotion of precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies, which hold the promise of revolutionizing the way we breed dairy cattle and sheep. The terms Industry 4.0 and Agriculture 4.0 are comparable. “Agriculture 4.0” describes both the inside and outside communication of farm operations, which implies the presence of digital information in virtually all farm activities. Agriculture 4.0 facilitates this digital transformation of primary production by handling a massive amount of data via Internet-based interfaces. In fact, Agriculture 4.0 is laying the groundwork for the following stage of agricultural development, which will include automated decision-making systems and operations. A central computer controls machinery connected to the internet as part of smart farming, which uses cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve productivity and the quality of products. These days, there are affordable, effective, and powerful tools available thanks to recent technical advancements. These include devices and services such as cameras, microphones, sensors, wireless networking gear, web access, and cloud storage. These technical tools are meant to aid farmers, who continue to be the most crucial component of effective livestock management, rather than to replace them. Early alarms, which provide the farmer with the option to intervene as soon as the first indicators of compromised welfare or health arise, are the center of PLF.

Cconsequently, articles (review and original papers) dealing with the applications of PLF in dairy (cattle and sheep) farming, including identification and tracking systems, automatic milking systems, estrus detection, illness detection, animal performance, feed monitoring, and animal behavior, are welcome for submission in this Special Issue, as are manuscripts referring to the development of prediction models or statistical tools such as control charts, developed in the context of PLF, which warn farmers of a potential deviation from the usual production profile based on animal and environmental inputs.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Veterinary Sciences.

Dr. Marios Mataragas
Dr. Bosnea Loulouda
Guest Editors

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• precision livestock farming
• Industry 4.0
• sensors
• animal health and welfare
• automatic milking systems
• precision feeding